NBK Governor Suleimenov explains National Fund mirroring operations

September 4, 2026 at 02:10 PM2 min

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National Bank of Kazakhstan Governor Timur Suleimenov on September 4 explained the mechanism of mirroring National Fund operations on the domestic currency market. The bank will gradually convert National Fund currency for budget transfers, selling $200–300 million in September to avoid a one-time market shock. Suleimenov also said dollarization of deposits has fallen to a historic low of about 19%.

Key Facts

The National Bank will sell $200–300 million of previously purchased foreign currency in September under the mirroring mechanism.
An additional $200–300 million from the National Fund will be sold on the currency market in September.
Kazakhstanis hold about 5.9 trillion tenge in foreign currency deposits, according to the Kazakhstan Deposit Guarantee Fund.
The dollarization rate of deposits in Kazakhstan has fallen to a historic low of about 19%.
Total deposits of individuals amount to about 30 trillion tenge, and including legal entities the figure reaches 46–47 trillion tenge.

Mirroring Mechanism

Suleimenov said the mirroring operations involve converting National Fund currency to finance budget transfers at the request of the Ministry of Finance. If the entire amount were sent to the currency market at once, it would sharply affect the exchange rate, temporarily lowering the dollar's value. The National Bank buys foreign currency into gold and foreign exchange assets and then gradually mirrors the effect over several periods, in this case until the end of the year. This mechanism smooths the effect of transfers over time to avoid a one-time non-market impact on the tenge exchange rate.

Deposit Dollarization

At a September 4 briefing, Suleimenov was asked about Kazakhstanis who continue to hold savings in foreign currency. The share of foreign currency deposits has fallen to a historic low of about 19%, down from 30–35% three to four years ago and 60% five to six years ago. Suleimenov attributed the decline to growing public confidence in the tenge. He noted that the 5.9 trillion tenge in foreign currency is held mainly by high-income citizens who also have tenge savings but chose dollar diversification.