In an infamous 2015 interview, Kamalov said: "The market must clear itself. We cannot fight the ocean with a bucket."
Unlike the political heavyweights of the Nur Otan party, Kamalov represented the new wave of "crisis managers"—technocrats educated in the harsh realities of global markets rather than Soviet planning. He is a rare figure who has served at the intersection of the National Bank, the presidential administration, and the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna . Ablet Kamalov’s most defining legacy is his role in the Kaspiy (Caspian) and Baikonur currency reforms. By 2015, Kazakhstan was bleeding reserves. The National Bank spent $28 billion defending an artificial exchange rate against the Russian ruble (which had collapsed) and the US dollar. ablet kamalov
At the time, many politicians demanded capital controls. argued the opposite. Alongside then-National Bank Governor Kairat Kelimbetov, Kamalov designed the radical shift to a free-floating exchange rate . In an infamous 2015 interview, Kamalov said: "The