Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 11
By Leman Zeynalova – Trend:
Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings affirmed its 'BBB-/A-3' long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings of Kazakhstan, according to the message of the ratings agency.
S&P also affirmed national scale ratings of Kazakhstan at 'kzAA'. The outlook on the long-term ratings is negative.
“Our ratings on Kazakhstan remain primarily supported by the government’s strong balance sheet, built on past budgetary surpluses accumulated during the era of high commodity prices,” said the message.
The ratings of Kazakhstan remain constrained by the agency’s view that future policy responses may be difficult to predict due to the highly centralized political environment, the country's moderate level of economic wealth and limited monetary policy flexibility.
The agency’s analysts project that the Kazakh economy will return to moderate growth rates starting from 2017, with GDP growth averaging 2.5 percent over 2017-2020.
“This will be supported by stronger investments, recovering private consumption, and stronger export performance as the oil price outlook marginally improves, alongside our expectation of accelerated production at the large Kashagan oil field,” reads the message.
S&P estimates that trend growth in real per capita GDP of Kazakhstan will amount to about one percent during 2011-2020, at the lower end of the range for countries that display similar levels of development.
The negative outlook on the sovereign ratings of Kazakhstan reflects the agency’s view of risks to the country’s fiscal profile over the next 12 months.
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