Kazakhstan is one of the last countries of the former Soviet Union to abandon the ruble and introduce its own currency. So what is the currency in Kazakhstan? The national currency of this country is tenge. At the moment, there are coins in circulation in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 tenge. And also bills of 200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000 tenge.
A brief history of the emergence of currency
Before the introduction of its own currency, rubles were used in Kazakhstan. On November 12, 1993, the country's president ordered the introduction of its own national currency. Three days later, Kazakhstan introduced its own currency, the tenge. The first banknotes were made in England, and the coins were made in Germany.
To this day, November 15 is the national currency holiday.
During its existence, money in Kazakhstan has experienced 3 devaluations - in 1999 it depreciated by 64.6%, in 2009 it fell in price against the dollar by 25 tenge and the last devaluation happened in 2014, the currency lost 20%.
Currency symbol scandal
In 2006, the National Bank of the country held a competition for the best symbol of the currency of Kazakhstan. A year later, the winner was determined among 30 thousand applicants. The winner of the competition received 1 million tenge as a gift.
However, after publication it turned out that the new tenge symbol was a complete copy of the Japanese post symbol, which had been in use for over 120 years.
What currency to take to Kazakhstan
Before traveling to Kazakhstan, you need to decide with what currency to fly there. Most often, the dollar, euro or rubles are chosen as the currency. With these currencies, the least problems will arise when exchanging it for a local one.
It should be noted that in Kazakhstan there are absolutely no restrictions on the amount of foreign currency imported into the country.
Currency exchange in Kazakhstan
The easiest way to exchange currency in Kazakhstan is in various banks, this area is quite developed in the country. Banks are open Monday through Friday from 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. Saturday and Sunday are closed, respectively. Also, as one of the options, you can offer the airport, which also has exchange offices.
Plastic cards
When traveling to Kazakhstan, many services can be paid directly from a bank card, as a rule, VISA or MasterCard are used. ATM machines are available for cash withdrawals in cities and airports. It is necessary to clarify the amount of the commission for carrying out operations on the card with the bank that issued it.
