BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 2
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
The current account of Kazakhstan’s balance of payments was with a deficit as of the end of 9M2020 of $4.1 billion compared to a deficit of $5.1 billion in 9M2019, Trend reports citing Kazakhstan’s National Bank.
The main factor for the improvement in the country’s current account was the reduction in income payable to foreign investors.
The previously published preliminary data of the bank said that the deficit of current account of the balance of payments amounted to $3.8 billion over 9M2020. The increase in the deficit by $335 million is mainly related to updates to the data of the Bureau of National Statistics of the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms Kazakhstan on international trade and the reports received from respondents on capital flows.
The country’s goods export decreased by 18.2 percent to $35.3 billion over the reporting period of 2020 as compared to the same period of 2019. The decrease in exports is associated with a decrease in the export of oil and gas condensate. In turn, goods import also decreased by 9.6 percent to $26.4 billion, which is due to a decrease in the import of intermediate goods. Thus, the trade surplus decreased by 36 percent and amounted to $9 billion.
The income payable to foreign direct investors decreased by 36.8 percent to $10.2 billion due to the decline in oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic. The decline in income neutralized further deterioration in the current account.
Net inflow of capital to the financial account (excluding operations with reserve assets of the National Bank) amounted to $9.3 billion as compared to $2.3 billion during the same period of 2019.
The inflow was mainly ensured by the continued financing of the future expansion project of Tengizchevroil LLP, the placement of sovereign bonds by Kazakh Ministry of Finance and the operations of the National Fund.
Reserve assets (excluding the assets of the National Fund) stood at $33.8 billion as of October 1, 2020, which covers the financing needs of 8.7 months of Kazakh imports of goods and services.
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