ASTANA (TCA) — The Government of Kazakhstan has approved a new forecast of the country’s socio-economic development for this year, Kazakh media reported.
Minister of National Economy Yerbolat Dosayev told a media briefing on February 23 that the Government has changed the following parameters of the state budget: the exchange rate of the tenge in the budget calculation was raised from 300 to 360 tenges per $1, the average oil price was lowered from $40 down to $30 per barrel, and the GDP growth forecast lowered from 2.1 to 0.5 percent.
The minister said the Government expects a production decrease in the mining industry by 5 percent and in the processing industry by 0.4 percent this year.
The Government expects a 3.5-percent production growth in agriculture.
Inflation is expected at the previous level of 6-7 percent.
The minister also said the Government is planning to prepare a new strategic plan for Kazakhstan’s development through 2025, which will reflect new directions of economic development.
Dosayev said that the world economic development forecast is based on commodity prices and will therefore be rather conservative and pessimistic.
In his words, there were expectations that many importer countries would sharply increase production due to lower commodity and oil prices, but that has not happened due to the excess supply on the market. “That is why the Kazakh economy is entering a new development phase, a new reality. The Government and the National Bank are revising their medium and long-term policies,” the minister said.
