BAKU, Azerbaijan, Mar. 24
By Nargiz Sadikhova – Trend:
Kazakhstan’s government will make changes to the forecast for the country's socio-economic development for 2020-2024 and to state budget for 2020-2022, Trend reports with reference to the press office of Kazakhstan’s prime minister.
The topic was discussed during the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Askar Mamin, during which measures to fulfill the instructions of Kazakhstan’s President given at an expanded meeting of the State Commission on Ensuring the State of Emergency were discussed.
The issues of the budgetary parameters for 2020 and measures taken in the field of public procurement, including the formation of a register of domestic producers and the introduction of a special public procurement regime, the abolition of the need to make a security deposit or a bank guarantee were discussed during the meeting.
Measures taken to stabilize the foreign exchange market, tax stimulation of business activity, suspension of payments of principal and loan interest, support for employers, ensuring food security and price stability, social payments to people who lost income due to the state of emergency, and providing free grocery packages for socially vulnerable segments of the population, employment, as well as lower payments for utilities during the quarantine period were also considered.
Particular attention was paid to the availability of test kits, equipment, drugs and personal protective equipment required amid coronavirus outbreak.
By a decision of State Commission on Provision of Emergency State under the president of Kazakhstan, quarantine regime has been introduced in Kazakhstan’s Nur-Sultan and Almaty cities at 00:00 (GMT +6) on March 19, 2020, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
On March 15, 2020, Kazakhstan’s President Kassym Jomart Tokayev signed a decree introducing an emergency state in Kazakhstan due to coronavirus outbreak, which came in force from 08:00 (GMT +6) on March 16 and will last till 08:00 on April 15, 2020.
First two cases of coronavirus infection were detected in Kazakhstan among those who arrived in Almaty city from Germany on March 13, 2020. The latest data said that the overall number of coronavirus cases in Kazakhstan is 68 people.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
As of today, over 381,500 people have been confirmed as infected. The number of people killed by the disease has surpassed 16,500. Meanwhile, over 101,800 people have reportedly recovered.
Several countries are working on a vaccine against the new virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.
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