The Almaty Financial Instrument Exchange (AFINEX) announced that beginning 1 March it will resume U.S. Dollar-Tenge futures trading. During the first stage, only short-term (1-month, 2-month, and 3-month) non-delivery future contracts worth USD 1,000 will be launched. The futures market has been idle since February 1998 due to the absence of interest by banks.

Between 17-26 February the rate of Tenge devaluation reached a level not seen yet in 1999—51% annually if calculated by the AFINEX average weighted rate. On Friday, 26 February, the Tenge/Dollar rate fell to 86.45 on the AFINEX. It was 85.27 on 17 February. Between 22-26 February the declining Tenge/Dollar rate occurred simultaneously with a Tenge deficit. The daily traded volumes fell to USD 25,000 on Monday. The maximum traded volume—USD 3,050,000—was reported on Tuesday. (IRBIS)