Kazakhstan: Projected Economic Growth Slashed Again

Kazakhstan has downwardly revised its economic growth projection for 2009 to just 1 percent. Minister of Economy and Budget Planning Bakhyt Sultanov attributed the slowdown to falling industrial production, and a contraction of the service and construction sectors.

Earlier forecasts had predicted GDP growth of 2.7 percent, a significant fall-off from the double-digit growth Kazakhstan experienced in recent years. The national budget has been battered by falling commodity prices and the government has revised the document several times in the last six months to make allowances for the declining price of oil and metals -- Kazakhstan's key exports. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Local news agencies reported March 23 that Sultanov warned a government meeting in Astana that a rebound in commodities prices should not be expected to occur in the near future. The government's budget deficit is expected to top $3.79 billion in 2009, he added.