BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 2. A surplus was recorded in Kazakhstan's current account balance of payments from January through September 2022, Director of the Balance of Payments Department at the National Bank of Kazakhstan Azat Uskenbayev said, Trend reports on November 2 via the bank.
According to Uskenbayev, the surplus equaled $7.9 billion compared to a deficit of $5.6 billion in the first nine months of 2021.
The shift in the current account from deficit to surplus took place due to improvement in the trade balance, the surplus of which reached $29.3 billion, he explained.
In the first nine months of this year, according to the bank’s representative, the surplus grew by $15.9 billion (2.2 times) on annual basis, ensured by the higher growth rate of exports compared to imports.
During the specified period, the export of goods increased by 47.9 percent compared to the same period of 2021 to $63.9 billion. The export was supported by strong external demand and high world prices for raw materials and energy sources, including oil. So, the export of oil and gas condensate increased by 63.4 percent and amounted to $36.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the import of goods increased by 16.4 percent up to $34.6 billion due to an increase in the import of intermediate and non-food consumer goods by $3.1 billion (21.6 percent) and $1.5 billion (23.2 percent), respectively.
The value of transactions of individuals related to cross-border e-commerce and gray imports of cars from the EAEU (Eurasian Economic Union) countries [added to the total import value] equaled $318.8 million in the third quarter of 2022. Of this amount, $262.1 million fell on imports of online purchased goods, and $56.7 million - on imports of cars.
The total amount of these added transactions for the first nine months of 2022 was $1.1 billion.
Incomes of foreign direct investors in the reporting period rose by 22.5 percent ($3.7 billion) and amounted to $20.2 billion. In general, the growth in exports of goods was accompanied by an increase in the income payments to foreign investors.
Meanwhile, a surplus worth $9 billion was formed in the financial account (excluding reserve assets), meaning growth in net foreign assets and a decrease in external liabilities of residents (a net inflow of $6.3 billion was recorded for nine months of 2021). The surplus of the financial account was provided mainly by the operations of the public sector.
The reserve assets (excluding the assets of the National Fund of Kazakhstan) were estimated at $32.6 billion as of October 1, 2022, which covers the financing needs of 7.1 months of Kazakh imports of goods and services.