Kazakh GDP growth not to exceed 5 percent in 2014

Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 21

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

GDP growth in Kazakhstan will not exceed five percent in 2014, Novosti-Kazakhstan quoted the chairman of Kazakh National Bank Kairat Kelimbetov as saying on Oct. 21.

"Today, the government is considering amendments to the national budget, Kelimbetov said at a briefing. "In general, we expect that the GDP growth will not exceed 5 percent. We expect economic growth at the level between 4 and 5 percent."

Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 4 percent in January-September 2014, the head of the Statistics Committee under Economy Ministry, Alikhan Smailov said previously.

"There is no decline in GDP volume, however there is some slowdown in growth," Smailov said at the time.

"We see some reduction in the industry due to the crisis developments related to the sanctions in Russia, a decline in demand for exports products imported from Kazakhstan," he said. "There's also a lag in oil production, but it is planned to reach last year's volume by the end of this year."

Earlier Kazakhstan's real GDP growth was forecast at 5.0 percent in 2015, 5.6 percent in 2016, 6.8 percent in 2017, 5.8 percent in 2018 and 6.5 percent in 2019.

Kazakhstan's GDP per capita in 2015 was forecast to exceed $13,900, and grow up to $21,400 in 2019.

Yet the Kazakh government decided to revise the GDP growth forecasts for 2015-2017, National Economy Minister Erbolat Dossaev had said.

Edited by T.T.