National Bank of Kazakhstan to buy up to $250 mln per month for Pension Fund

ASTANA. April 16 (Interfax) - The National Bank of Kazakhstan plans to purchase $200 million-$250 million monthly on the market to maintain a 40% foreign-currency ratio in the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund's (UAPF) portfolio.

Nurzhan Tursunkhanov, director of the bank's Monetary Operations Department, said during a briefing the purchases would continue through the year-end. "These purchases will offset incoming contributions and asset growth to maintain our target 40% foreign currency allocation," he said.

"If we don't maintain this share, meaning if we don't buy dollars for pension assets this year, the forex ratio could drop from 40% to below 35%," Tursunkhanov said.