BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10
Trend:
The business activity index of Kazakhstan in October slightly increased, amounting to 50.1 (49.8 in September), Trend reports with reference to the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
According to the bank, at the same time, the indicator in the industry slowed down to 50.6 (50.9 in September) due to a decrease in the volume of new orders. An increase in employment in construction and an increase in new orders in the service sector led to an improvement in the index in these sectors to 49.9 (49.3) and to 49.7 (49.1), respectively.
In the context of regions, in October an improvement in business activity in nine regions was recorded, a deterioration - in eight regions. The highest level of business activity was noted in the North Kazakhstan (59.1) and Mangistau (57.5) regions, the lowest - in the Kyzylorda region (41.6).
It is noted that enterprises from all sectors gave a positive assessment of the demand for products / services, access to communications and finance / loans. At the same time, as in the previous month, the issues of business protection and the tax burden received negative assessments.
Also, enterprises' expectations regarding future business conditions for the next six months improved. Thus, the assessment of future conditions amounted to 14.9 (13.5 in September). As a result, the business climate index for the economy rose to 6.6 (6.1).
The bank also noted 461 enterprises took part in October survey, including 67 enterprises in construction, 174 – in industry and 220 in services.