BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb.28
Trend:
The results of the monitoring of enterprises have shown that the process of the gradual recovery of economic activity in the real sector of Kazakhstan continues, Trend reports with reference to the National Bank.
The recovery was due to an increase in demand for finished products with a slight slowdown in the growth rate of prices for finished products, raw materials and materials, as well as acceleration in the turnover of assets and working capital.
The utilization of production capacities of enterprises almost remained at the same level, the weighted average utilization level amounted to 54.2 percent (in the third quarter of 2021 – 54 percent). However, the rate of production growth slowed down. The diffusion index (DI) changed from 53.4 to 50.7, still being in the positive zone.
Demand for finished products of enterprises increased, DI increased from 50.6 to 52.5. An improvement in the indicator was noted in the sectors of production of goods (54.1) and services (50.8).
The growth rate of prices for finished products of enterprises in the economy as a whole slowed down slightly, DI amounted to 61.5. In the first quarter of 2022, enterprises expect a slowdown in the growth in prices for finished products.
In the 4th quarter of 2021, 17.2 percent of surveyed enterprises applied to the bank for a loan, 17 percent of enterprises received a loan (or 98.8 percent of those who applied for a loan). The vast majority of enterprises (81.1 percent) attracted loans to finance working capital (purchase of materials, raw materials, semi-finished products, etc.).
The state of the Kazakh economy is still the main obstacle to doing business for 35.5 percent of enterprises. Other obstacles are: market competition (29 percent), the level of the tax burden (22.4 percent), and the search for buyers (21.9 percent). Access to financing is ranked 9th (10.9 percent) in terms of importance.
The dynamics of the composite leading indicator (CLI), which is an aggregated assessment of business surveys, demonstrates the continued recovery of economic activity in the real sector. CLI slightly increased to 100.4. In the first quarter of 2022, economic activity is expected to continue growing (CLI is expected to be 100.2)