ASTANA, Kazakhstan, April 30. About $16.7 billion is illegally withdrawn from Kazakhstan every year, said Senator and Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee Sultanbek Makezhanov, Trend reports.
He made the remark during a round table on the topic “Implementing foreign exchange regulation to prevent the illegal withdrawal of capital.”
"Every year, about $16.7 billion is illegally withdrawn from Kazakhstan. Our country ranks 11th in the ranking out of 148 countries," he said.
According to him, Kazakhstan's economy is focused on raw materials.
"Kazakhstan relies heavily on the export of hydrocarbons and metals. That is, minerals from the earth's bowels serve as the foundation for our exports rather than the finished product with a high level of processing. As a result, the unlawful transfer of capital gained directly or indirectly through the export of minerals is seen negatively by society and is closely monitored. As a result, this dilemma extends beyond economics to become social and political," he noted.
Meanwhile, Kazakhstan has returned illegally acquired assets worth about 1 trillion tenge (about $2.22 billion) to the country over the past two years.