AKIPRESS.COM - The Kazakh central bank, which has faced questions about devaluing the national currency for a second time this year, can manage the tenge without putting it under “new stress,” the International Monetary Fund said.

“I don’t think a new devaluation will necessarily be a good thing,” Juha Kahkonen, deputy director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, said yesterday in an interview in the Kazakh commercial capital of Almaty. “Certainly Kazakhstan has reserves to handle any short-term fluctuations.”

The tenge, closely managed by the central bank, has strengthened in seven of the past eight months against the dollar after a 19 percent devaluation in February. Kazakhstan has no plans to devalue the tenge in response to the falling price of oil, the country’s chief export, and a weaker Russian currency, central bank Chairman Kairat Kelimbetov said Oct. 21.

While Russia is the main factor for pressure on the tenge, “some weakness” in exports to China is also weighing on the currency, Kahkonen said.

As the central bank discusses its currency management, it should also be mindful of the high level of dollarization in the Kazakh economy, Kahkonen said.

“If the exchange rate moves a lot, it will create issues for borrowers and lenders,” he said, urging the central bank to show more flexibility in steering the tenge. “It’s a gradual process and certainly will take some years.”

The ruble has been plunging as capital flees the country, even after the central bank increased interest rates last week amid a standoff with the U.S. and its allies over the conflict in Ukraine.

The tenge is trading near the strongest level against the ruble in more than four years. It gained 1.3 percent against the Russian currency yesterday, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Kazakhstan’s international reserves reached $28 billion in September, an increase of more than 13 percent this year.