ASTANA (TCA) — The Kazakh Government meeting on October 16 reviewed the results of the country’s socio-economic development for the first nine months of 2018, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported.
Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov said that in January-September 2018, the economy of Kazakhstan maintained a positive growth trend.
“GDP growth in the reporting period accelerated to 4.1%. The main contribution to the acceleration of growth from basic industries was made by trade and the recovery in the dynamics of the construction industry. Also, an impulse to economic activity was the reduction of inflationary pressure and an increase in investment demand,” Suleimenov reported.
The inflation rate remains within the corridor of 5-7%. In September, inflation was 0.4%, from the beginning of the year — 3.3%. At the same time, annual inflation is 6.1%.
According to the minister, investment activity of enterprises remains at high levels. Investments in fixed assets increased by 21.6%.
In the first nine months 2018, industrial production growth was 4.8%. At the same time, the target indicator for the year was 3.3%. In manufacturing, the increase was 5.1%, which corresponds to the target indicator. The increase in production of non-ferrous metals was 4.5%, refined products — by 7.5%, the chemical industry — by 8.2%, paper and paper products — by 9.2%, furniture — by 5.1%, and in mechanical engineering — by 14.5%.
The growth rate in the mining industry was 4.9%.
In the construction industry, an increase of 4.4% was recorded.
Moderate growth was observed in the production of services by 3.9%. The main contribution was made by trade. Active recovery growth in trade stimulates business activity.
Kazakhstan’s foreign trade turnover keeps the trend of steady growth: for eight months, the growth was 21.6%. Exports increased by 28.2%, imports — by 10.8%.
There is a steady trend in the labor market. Since the early 2018, nearly 414,500 people have been employed (as of October 1). Wages are growing at a moderate pace. In January-September, the average monthly salary amounted to 158,200 tenge and grew in real terms by 1.9%, said Suleimenov.
The Chairman of the National Bank Daniyar Akishev reported that at the end of September, the growth of bank deposits in national currency amounted to 4.1%. Deposits in foreign currency decreased 2.5%. As a result, the dollarization of bank deposits fell to 46%.
