Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 5
By Ali Mustafayev – Trend:
The current account deficit of Kazakhstan's balance of payments decreased almost twofold in 2017, compared to the same indicator of 2016 and amounted to $4.7 billion, the press service of the National Bank of Kazakhstan said in a message.
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the current account of the country was almost balanced - a small deficit amounted to $80.9 million. The restoration of prices for basic export goods and an adequate rate-setting policy for the first time allowed the country to escape from the quarterly indicators of the significant current account deficit, which was observed in 2015-2017.
The improvement of the current account in comparison with the previous year is due to a twofold increase in the trade surplus to $17.5 billion ($9.2 billion in 2016).
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Kazakhstan’s trade balance amounted to $5.5 billion, which is the maximum value of the quarterly indicator for the last three years.