One by one, countries are devaluing their currencies. Last week, China weakened its yuan amid economic softness and weak exports. This week, Kazakhstan and Vietnam devalued their currencies. Kazakhstan removed the tenge’s peg to the U.S. dollar, causing the currency to lose some 29 percent of its value against the greenback on Thursday. ‘The devaluation of the tenge is no surprise,’ said Jan Randolph, director of sovereign risk at IHS, based in London. ‘All emerging markets are under pressure amid China’s slowdown and the fall in oil prices.’ While oil prices are currently at a six and a half year low, Kazakhstan is also feeling the pinch from the tumbling Russian ruble, which has reached its lowest point against the dollar in six months. ‘Apart from the oil trade, the non-oil trade for Kazakhstan is very much linked to to Russia as an export market,’ Randolph said. Going forward, Randolph expects oil exporting countries to be next in line to devalue their currency. TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from New York.
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