Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 19
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
Kazakhstan’s economy expanded in the first half of 2017 led by an increase in oil production and an accommodative macroeconomic policy stance, the World Bank Group said in its Europe and Central Asia Economic Update.
“Kazakhstan’s economy started to recover from the crisis caused by the fall of global oil prices, GDP grew by 4.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) in the first half (H1) of 2017, compared to 0.1 percent of the same period of 2016. The oil sector was the main driver of economic growth, as oil output increased by 9.7 percent in H1-2017 due to the commissioning of the long-awaited off-shore oil field Kashagan in October 2016,” WBG reported.
The non-oil economy also expanded, on the back of dynamic activity on the manufacturing, agriculture, transport, and trade sectors, according to WBG.
“The country’s macroeconomic policy stance remained accommodative. Lower inflationary pressures allowed the central bank to cut its policy rate further from 12 percent at the beginning of 2017 to 10.25 percent in August 2017. The inflation rate fell from over 17 percent YoY in July 2016 to 7.1 percent in July 2017, as a passthrough effect from the currency devaluation faded out,” according to WBG.
The World Bank Group is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. The bank is based in Washington and aims to achieve the twin goals of ending extreme poverty and building shared prosperity in “developing” countries.