Investing in Kazakhstan companies: Should you pay attention to the tenge exchange rate?

Kazakhstan’s state-owned railway company (KTZ) has just submitted an application for a Hong Kong listing, and its earnings—doubling—have drawn market attention. However, when reviewing companies that operate with local-currency pricing, investors cannot ignore a key issue: exchange-rate movements. The Kazakh currency, the tenge, directly affects investment returns denominated in US dollars or Hong Kong dollars.

The Birth of the Tenge: An Independent Symbol

The Kazakh tenge itself tells the story of Kazakhstan’s pursuit of economic sovereignty. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan continued to use the Russian ruble for a time. Russia proposed incorporating Kazakhstan into its financial system, but on the condition that Kazakhstan give up sovereignty and turn over the country’s national gold reserves. Meanwhile, the Soviet ruble was severely devalued, with inflation reaching as high as 2900%.

Against this backdrop, on November 15, 1993, Kazakhstan formally issued its own currency—the tenge—replacing the ruble at a rate of 1 tenge to 500 rubles. President Nazarbayev said: “The introduction of the tenge is a clear sign of national economic independence.”

The word “tenge” comes from Turkic, meaning “to measure” or “a scale,” and it can be traced back to the era of the Golden Horde.

The Tenge’s Long Slide of Depreciation

However, depreciation has been almost the norm since the tenge was born.

• When it was issued in 1993, the exchange rate was 1 US dollar to 4.7 tenge; by 1997, it had fallen to 1 US dollar to 75 tenge—down by 16 times over four years.

• After that, the tenge went through multiple rounds of sharp devaluation: in February 2009, it depreciated by about 20%; in February 2014, it fell another 19.3%.

• 2015: Free float and a 30% plunge in a single day

• The most iconic event occurred on August 20, 2015. The Kazakh government abolished the exchange-rate corridor system and switched to a free-floating exchange-rate regime. On that day, the tenge-to-US-dollar rate abruptly fell from 1:197 to 1:256, a 30% depreciation in a single day.

Since then, the tenge has continued to weaken. In 2020, affected by the pandemic, it depreciated by about 10% over the year, with the exchange rate falling from 382.6 to 420.91. In July 2025, the exchange rate briefly touched a historical high of 549.90 tenge per 1 US dollar. As of July 2, 2026, the exchange rate published by the central bank is 478.96 tenge per 1 US dollar. Some financial institutions predict that the tenge could depreciate to 600–610 per 1 US dollar by the end of 2026.

Implications for Investors

When investing in Kazakhstan companies, impressive tenge-denominated profit figures may “shrink” after being converted into US dollars or Hong Kong dollars. Exchange-rate risk is an aspect that cannot be ignored in investment decisions, and the tenge’s history shows that depreciation has never been the exception—it has always been the norm.