November 15 is the day of the financier in Kazakhstan. It was on this day back in 1993 that the citizens of the young independent country for the first time held in their hands the first banknotes of their own state currency. “We all must be imbued with an understanding of the urgency of the circumstances and motives for the need to introduce our own national currency.
And the national currency is 28 years old. This measure was forced, Nursultan Nazarbayev explained to his compatriots. The fact is that a serious blow to the economy of the young republic was the implementation of its own monetary reform in Russia: in August 1993, banknotes of the 1961-1992 model were withdrawn from circulation, new Russian rubles began to be used, and the flow of old, useless money from the times of the USSR gushed to neighboring Kazakhstan.
“Until recently, Kazakhstan received repeated assurances from the Russian leadership that our republic could enter the new ruble zone on an equal footing.
more and more new conditions were put forward, which eventually came down to demands bordering on the loss of the republic’s economic sovereignty. At the same time, the mass dumping of old-style ruble cash into Kazakhstan, the uncertainty in its circulation on the territory of several states by the end of October led to the disorganization of the republic’s monetary system, a new round of inflation, and a sharp divergence in the purchasing power of the “Kazakhstan” and Russian rubles.
Of course, the country began to think about its own currency before these events. The introduction of the tinge was a most complicated operation, and preparations for it began back in 1991. It was necessary to develop a design in a very short time. If, for example, the English pound was drawn for six years, then Kazakhstani specialists were given only six months to work. The creative team for the creation of the tinge included Timor Suleimenov, Mend bay Align, Dobson Kasimov, Agymysaly Duzelkhanov and Khairulla Gabzhalilov.
There were several sketches of the prototype of the Kazakh currency, but only the fourth version was approved, where portraits of historical figures were placed on banknotes. But the size of the tinge was not discussed for a long time. It was important that the new money fit the size of Soviet-style calculating machines.
The first batch of tinge was printed abroad, in England. The British company “Harrison and Sons”, which received this profitable and interesting order from Kazakhstan, was awarded the Gold Badge of the Queen of Great Britain as a result. After all, it turned out that the Kazakh tinge became the best export product of Britain, which had 17 degrees of protection.
Chimkent planes were used to transport the printed batch of money, but since it was necessary to keep the entire operation secret, the documents indicated that the transported goods were equipment for the construction of the presidential residence. During the week they flew 18 times to London and back.
And already on November 15, the national banknotes of Kazakhstan were put into circulation. The exchange rate was 500 rubles for 1 tinge.
Each Kazakhstani over 16 years old was allowed to freely exchange up to 100 thousand rubles. In excess of this amount, funds had to be credited to a special personal bank account without the right to use for up to 6 months. After checking the legality of receiving money by a special commission, the funds were “thawed”. At that time, 950.6 billion rubles of the USSR of the 1961-1992 sample were withdrawn from circulation. The tinge rate against the dollar was 4.75 tense per $1.
Over the past 28 years, Kazakhstan’s economy has experienced several serious financial crises, such as the sharp depreciation of the national currency in 1998 and 2008, for example.
But still, it was the decision to introduce its own national currency in 1993 that allowed the young republic to enter a new stage in the development of the economy. It was the introduction of the tenge into circulation that allowed Kazakhstan to start taking the first steps towards building a national market infrastructure. Today, the tinge is the economic basis of independence and a symbol of sovereignty.
“Kazakh tinge is an integral attribute of our statehood. In the early 1990s, we carried out major market reforms and modernized the financial system.
A full-fledged financial infrastructure has been created. This made it possible to concentrate and efficiently use the necessary resources. Conditions were also created to attract large investments. The financial sector of Kazakhstan is recognized as the most advanced in the region. Today, its total assets exceed 35 trillion tinge, which is more than half of the country’s gross domestic product, said President Kassym-Jomart Okayed, speaking at the Financiers Forum on the eve of the holiday.
INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT TENG
Fact 1. The number 18 has a magical meaning for tinge. This is the number of days it took to prepare all the documents for the introduction of the tinge into circulation. The airline company needed the same number of flights to deliver money from England to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In addition, each tinge banknote has 18 degrees of protection. IN 2013, the Kazakh tyyn went out of circulation, but still continues to be taken into account in non-cash payments.
