GORKI, February 12 (RIA Novosti) – The devaluation of Kazakhstan’s currency will not affect the Russian economy, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said Wednesday.
“How could it affect us? We don’t have a currency union,” Shuvalov told reporters.
Kazakhstan’s central bank devalued the tenge by 18.9 percent Tuesday in an effort to prevent the destabilization of the country’s economy.
The devaluation of the tenge followed the weakening of the ruble, which last month fell to its lowest level against the dollar since March 2009, before regaining ground to stand at 34.76 rubles to the dollar Wednesday.
Some analysts believe that the move by the oil-rich Central Asian state is aimed at keeping its exports competitive on the global market.
In November 2011, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed a declaration on Eurasian economic integration, a roadmap of integration processes aimed at creating the Eurasian Economic Union, a common economic space based on the existing Customs Union among the three countries.
According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, Russia-Kazakhstan trade totaled $22.4 billion in 2012 and $13.1 billion in the first half of 2013.
