Kazakhstan Testing Scenarios for National Budget With Oil at $16-$30

The government of Kazakhstan is testing various scenarios for its national budget with oil prices between $16 and $30 per barrel, Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov told Sputnik.

“We planned our 2016 budget with $40 to the barrel. We reviewed all the scenarios with $30, $25, $20, and the bottom level of $16. We're currently testing these figures," Massimov said.

Kazakhstan does not rule out further fluctuations of its national currency (the tenge) against the US dollar in the short term as oil prices are expected to drop, Massimov told Sputnik on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum.

"I expect that, most likely, oil prices will continue to drop in the short term. And with that, there will be tenge fluctuations against the dollar and vice versa."

According to the prime minister, a long term forecast on the tenge will be possible to make in a few weeks when the situation stabilizes.

"I think we will reach a point of relevant stability very soon, and in the foreseeable future, I think in a couple of weeks, we will see stabilization, both of the tenge against the dollar rate and the dollar to the tenge rate as well. I think it is very important. When we reach a point of balance, then the situation will stabilize and it will be possible to make long term forecasts," Massimov explained.

Kazakhstan made the tenge a floating currency in August 2015, abandoning the exchange rate corridor. Before the move, the tenge was officially valued at about 188 to the US dollar.

Earlier this week, the tenge dropped to a record low of about 372 per dollar. At the start of 2016, the exchange rate was about 340 tenge per US dollar.

Source: Sputnik