BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 28. Business activity is growing with positive consumer activity, which affects prices, Chairman of National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) Galymzhan Pirmatov said at a briefing at NBK, Trend reports with reference to NBK.
"Growth of gross domestic product (GDP) in Kazakhstan amounted to 4.4 percent in 1Q2022, with a potential level of 3-4 percent in annual terms. A positive trend has been observed throughout Kazakhstan in many sectors of the economy since February, after a slowdown in growth in January against the background of a state of emergency that was imposed in Kazakhstan amid riots in early January. We expect that the current level of the base rate will not have a negative impact on economic growth, but rather create the necessary prerequisites for sustainable growth in the future," Pirmatov said.
According to him, business activity is also supported by high consumer demand, which is confirmed by the growth of retail trade against the backdrop of an increase in real incomes of the population.
"Economic activity is supported by growing lending volumes. The volume of new loans issued to the economy increased by 25.3 percent in 1Q2022, compared to the same period last year, including businesses - by 19.6 percent, households - by 32.5 percent," he noted.
At the same time, as the results of March 2022 showed, an increase in rate is not a deterrent for lending in face of increasing uncertainty and changes in conditions for issuing loans.
"Banking sector will continue to adapt to emerging conditions and changes in connection with potential mergers and acquisitions in the future, also restructuring of population's behavior model from consumer to savings," Pirmatov added.