ASTANA (TCA) — In the first half of 2016, the inflow of foreign direct investment in Kazakhstan increased fivefold, up to $5.7 billion, Minister of National Economy Kuandyk Bishimbayev said in parliament on September 19, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
“A key factor in economic growth was an increase of investment in fixed assets by 4.8%. The total investment in fixed assets amounted to 4.3 trillion tenge, with more than a third (1.5 trillion tenge) from state investment funds and national holdings,” Bishimbayev said.
The minister said that Kazakhstan’s international reserves had increased by 4.6% since the beginning of the year and amounted to $95.6 billion, while the National Fund assets reached $64.9 billion. The volume of bank loans to businesses had grown by 0.5%, up to 12.7 trillion tenge as of August 1. The volume of new loans had reached 5.4 trillion tenge, an increase of 7.8% during the first seven months in 2016. The foreign trade turnover decreased by 29.6%, down to $33.1 billion in January-July. Exports declined to $20 billion or 30% and imports declined by $13.1 billion or 28.8%.
Bishimbayev also said that the country’s economic growth was increasingly provided by the non-oil sector. The growth in the manufacturing industry was 0.7% for 8 months of this year.
“The production of iron and steel products increased by 8.3%, food products by 3.8%, oil refining by 0.6%, plastics by 2.4%, and pharmaceuticals by 2.5%,” Bishimbayev said.
The minister said that the export of highly processed products and food products increased: sugar and confectionery products – by 84% (up to 17.2 thousand tons), oils and fats – by 26.9% (to 34.5 thousand tons), meat and meat products – by 12.5% (to 5.8 thousand tons), chemical fertilizers – by 82.2% (to 114.5 thousand tons), textiles – by 4.4% (to 24.2 thousand tons), and fabricated metal products – by 51.2% (up to 73 thousand tons).
