Finance Ministry blames inadequate tax revenue planning for Kazakhstan's budget shortfall

Despite poor tax collection, the budget deficit remains at the level initially projected / Photo by Askar Akhmetullin, photo editor: Dastan Shanay

According to the Ministry of Finance, the government has achieved only 75.6% of its tax revenue target. Commenting on the matter, Finance Minister Madi Takiyev told a Kursiv.media correspondent that last year’s overly optimistic projections are partly to blame for the shortfall.

The minister explained that when planning this year’s budget, the ministry relied on budget performance data from previous years. Notably, in 2022, budget revenue increased by 143%, which was factored into projections for 2023 and subsequently 2024.

Due to lower-than-expected tax revenue, the budget deficit reached $6 billion in September, 17.7% higher than the planned $5.1 billion.

However, the ministry does not expect the budget deficit to grow further this year.

«The budget deficit will remain at 2.6% of GDP or $7.3 billion. It won’t increase because we are securing additional funds through public securities issuance,» Takiyev stated.

The minister added that the budget will receive extra support from public securities and an increased transfer from the National Fund, totaling $11.4 billion, up from the initially planned $7.3 billion. As a result, the budget deficit is expected to remain at the predicted level of $7.3 billion.