The tenge, often denoted by KZT, is the official unit of currency of Kazakhstan. The currency is subdivided into 100 tiyin, and was introduced in November 1993 after the fall of the USSR to replace the Russian ruble. The name tenge means "balance" or "scale" in Kazakh, and is closely related to the Russian word daingey and the Chinese word tengse.
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Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country's access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets.
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Political Structure
Kazakhstan's government is a republic consisting of three branches: the executive, legislative, and judiciary. The head of the executive branch is the president, who is elected every seven years. The president has the responsibility of electing his Cabinet of Ministers. The legislature consists of a bicameral body with a Senate and a Majilis, where the senate has 39 seats and the Majilis has 77 seats. The judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court.
Prominent Figures
Elected in 1999, the current president of Kazakhstan is Nursultan Nazarbayev, who was originally chairman of the Supreme Soviet. He was elected in 1991 and is well known for expanding his executive powers. He decreed that only he could initiate constitutional amendments, appoint and dismiss the government, dissolve Parliament, call referenda at his discretion, and appoint administrative heads of regions and cities. The governor, Anvar Galimullaevich Saidenov, heads the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
Unique Characterists
Before the collapse of the USSR, Kazakhstan has a specialized role in its part of the Soviet Empire. Kazakhstan specialized in wheat production, metallurgy and mineral extraction. As a part of the empire, Kazakhstan could rely on a steady market of goods and energy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, this centralized plan obviously failed to continue, causing a decline in output for the Kazakhstan economy. After independence, the country faced severe recession that destroyed many industrial sectors, such as consumer goods. Industry declined from 31% of the GDP in 1992, to 21.2% of the GDP in 1996. By 2000, Kazakhstan emerged from its recession and industry became a main economic source again. Industry accounted for 33% of the GDP, but this was a result from the investment-led oil boom. Oil accounted for nearly half of the industrial output.
Key Economic Factors
While many countries in the Middle East thrive on their oil reserves, Jordan is an exception in this trend. The country's landlocked position brings with it scarce water supplies and an inadequate supply of natural resources (namely oil and coal). As such shortages often translate into problems such as debt, poverty and unemployment, Jordan relies on foreign aid from its oil-rich neighboring countries. Recently, Jordan has been trying harder to improve its living standards by engaging in economic reform. Since King Abdallah has taken throne, he has worked very closely with the IMF, been careful when implementing monetary policy, made considerable progress with privatization, and relaxed the trade regime just enough so that it has assured Jordan's membership in the World Trade Organization. All of these actions have helped Jordan become more productive and put it on the foreign investment map. Jordan's main goals are to reduce its reliance on foreign aid, lower its budget deficit, and increase incentives to invest in order to encourage job creation.
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