News

According to the Ministry of Healthcare of Kazakhstan, unvaccinated children account for about 70% of cases of measles in the country.

What happened? As of September 1, 2023, Kazakhstan reported 4,306 cases of measles with children under 14 accounting for 3,581 cases or 83%.

Who gets measles more often? According to epidemiologists, those children who have never gotten a vaccine account for 3,006 cases (70%). In 1,714 cases, parents of those kids refused to get a shot, in 572 there were vaccine exemptions, in 648 cases children were too young and in 72 cases there were other reasons. People with...

According to a new report on monetary policy by the National Bank, GDP growth is expected at 4.2% to 5.2% this year and by 4% to 5% over the period from 2024 to 2025.

The regulator underlined that it has revised its previous forecast upward. In May 2023, the National Bank of Kazakhstan presented two scenarios for its forecast of GDP growth. The first one was pessimistic. It said that the country’s economy would grow by 3.2% to 4.2% in 2023 and 3% to 4% in 2024. The optimistic scenario said that the growth would be at 4.7% to...

Mineral production tax (MPT), corporate income tax (CIT) and value-added tax (VAT) won’t be reduced for the purpose of a new tax code, according to Finance Minister Yerulan Zhamaubayev.

«I think, what we can reduce are different types of fees. There are a few core taxes like CIT, VAT and MPT. Of course, they won’t be changed, while some small advertising fees, for example, or other duties, might be reduced,» he told journalists.

He noted that the draft law is currently being considered by the cabinet and will be published later.

Zhamaubayev also mentioned that...

During its secondary public offering (SPO) KEGOC, a subsidiary of the Samruk Kazyna holding, is planning to offer 5% of its shares. The SPO is going to happen by the end of this year, according to the press service of the prime minister.

«We are going to continue moving entities from the quasi-state sector into a competitional environment or reorganize them. By the end of this year, we are expecting the SPO of 5% shares of KEGOC, followed by IPOs of Air Astana in 2024, QazaqGaz, Kazakhstan Railways and Samruk Energy in 2025,» the prime minister’s...

The lower house of Uzbekistan’s parliament has approved a new law on the prohibition of propaganda of polygamy and wearing clothes that cover the face while in public.

What is the draft law suggesting? The document suggests amending the criminal and administrative codes with penalties for:

– propaganda of having two or more wives;

– open denial of equal rights of men and women; and

– wearing clothes that make impossible the identification of a person in public places.

However, the country’s authorities won’t go after those who cover their faces under medical or professional circumstances.

The new legislation also...

While President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was delivering his address to the nation, he said that it is necessary to spur corporate lending and justly noted that banks aren’t active enough in contributing to the economic growth of Kazakhstan. Сorporate loans to the GDP ratio has been declining since 2014. As a result, we have already fallen behind our big neighbors in terms of this rate.

Banks have gone through a set of actions aimed at making their balances look perfect. They have written off loads of bad loans they issued to domestic businesses and learned many painful lessons. At the time...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has removed Galymzhan Pirmatov from the position of chairman of the National Bank, according to the president’s press service.

«Galymzhan Pirmatov has been dismissed from the position of the chairman of the National Bank by the president’s edict,» the press service said in a statement.

What do we know about Pirmatov? The ex-chairman of the National Bank was born in 1972 in the Shymkent region of Kazakhstan. In 1993, he graduated from Novosibirsk State University where he studied mathematics. In 1995, he graduated from the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics, and Forecasting...

Timur Suleymenov, who was appointed as the new chairman of the National Bank of Kazakhstan on September 4, shared his thoughts on the possibility of the base rate decreasing, the Ulysmedia website reported.

«Inflation is the most dangerous process for our economy. We have to decide on this first. We will decrease the rate if the necessary conditions emerge,» Suleymenov said.

He also promised to answer questions from the media and explain his monetary policy stance a little bit later.

At the end of August, the National Bank, headed at the time by Galymzhan Pirmatov...

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has appointed the ministers of internal affairs, trade and integration, culture and information, labor and social protection, as well as the heads of two agencies that have been established just recently: the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Tourism. The corresponding edicts have been published on the president’s website akorda.kz.

What happened? The president issued an edict about the appointment of the six new ministers:

Yerzhan Sadenov as the minister of internal affairs;

Arman Shakkaliyev as the minister of trade and integration;

Aida Balayeva as the minister of culture and information;

Marat Karabayev as the minister...

Kanat Sharlapayev, ex-chairman of the national holding Baiterek, has been appointed as the new minister of industry and construction.

Members of the lower house of the parliament have approved the candidacy of Kanat Sharlapayev as the new minister of industry and construction. The decision was made during a meeting of the Committee on Economic Reform and Regional Development.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has already signed an edict on the appointment.

«To appoint Kanat Sharlapayev as the minister of industry and construction of the Republic of Kazakhstan,» the edict says.

The context. On September 1, President Tokayev...

As the press service of the Astana International Exchange (AIX) reported, the number of individual accounts opened by Kazakhstanis has reached one million. Over the past three years, this rate has grown sixfold.

According to AIX, retail investors have thrived over the past several years thanks to technological progress in the sphere of investments. For example, they can use different online apps to trade on the stock exchange. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the industry and driven the number of individual accounts sky-high.

«All those restrictions related to the COVID...

The website of the Bureau of Industry and Security under the U.S. Department of Commerce has been blocked in Kazakhstan because it was identified as a phishing resource, according to the Ministry of Culture and Information of Kazakhstan. At the same time, the agency underlined that the blocking of the website has nothing to do with any publication about “Kazakhstan’s assistance to Russia in breaching sanctions.”

Why has the website been blocked? The Ministry of Culture says that it constantly monitors the media landscape within the country to ensure compliance with Kazakhstan’s legislation. On April 26, 2023, the agency designated...

According to the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs Atameken, the country’s cabinet has approved the zero rate of customs fee for goods that cost less than €200.

What happened? As Atameken reported, this year businesses were forced to pay about $43.50 for every delivery document they applied with the government within the customs declaration process.

«As a result, the amount of import and export transactions with small shipments transported by courier companies significantly declined and hit online shops across the country,» the chamber said in a statement on Telegram.

What was the problem? The key problem...

According to Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, the inflation rate is going to be twice as low by the end of the year compared to last year.

«Inflation is gradually declining. It is going be twice as low as last year,» Smailov stated.

Even though the prime minister didn’t provide any details, last year, the rate was 20.3%. On August 25, 2023, Galymzhan Pirmatov, head of the National Bank said that the inflation rate would be at 10% to 12% by the end of the year; 7.5% to 9.5% in 2024 and 5.5% to 7.5% in...

In his address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said that Kazakhstanis will get the right to elect mayors of towns and heads of districts (akims).

What did Tokayev say about elected positions? The president said that citizens should play an important role in making decisions at the level of local executive power.

«It’s important to be consistent in expanding the role of citizens in the decision-making process at the regional level. It’s been more than two years since Kazakhstanis started to take part in elections of heads of villages, settlements and rural districts. And now...

During his national address in front of members of both houses of parliament, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev suggested that the two current stock exchanges – Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) and Astana International Exchange (AIX) – be combined into one entity.

«There are two stock exchanges in Kazakhstan, which often duplicate and even compete with each other. It’s too much for our financial system. To increase the capacity and attractiveness of our market, the cabinet should prepare a plan on how to combine the potential of the two stock exchanges under unified governance,» the president said.

KASE...

The government of Kyrgyzstan has decided to block TikTok due to its negative impact on the physical and mental health of minors, according to the country’s Ministry of Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy.

The agency highlighted that TikTok is quite effective in immersing users into the virtual world of short reels which makes teenagers want to repeat what they’ve seen on the platform. Some of these reels might be dangerous.

«In addition, the psyche of teenagers is often too weak as it is still in the process of evolving, and such content can cause an...

According to Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek, those who invest in scientific research can apply for tax deductions of up to 150% of the money they have spent.

«We are working on a law on science and technological policy. We are going to present this law in September or October. Once it is in the parliament, the process of consideration will begin. Therefore, we expect this law to be approved in the first half of next year. The draft legislation will include different mechanisms aimed at making private businesses more interested in scientific...

The administration of President Joe Biden said that it has no intention of lowering the Russian oil cap from $60 per barrel to $30 per barrel despite multiple requests from Ukraine to do so. The White House is worryed that the move can destabilize the world’s economy and weaken global support for Ukraine, The Washington Post wrote.

According to people familiar with the issue, the twofold drop in the oil cap may push Russia to cut its oil production, which would cause a sharp price surge for natural gas. Moreover, because of the upcoming presidential elections in the U.S...

Kazakhstan has been ranked fourth in terms of consumer confidence among Central Asian states, according to a survey by Freedom Finance Global.

In July, the consumer confidence index (CCI) in Kazakhstan reached 101.5 points. About half of those who took part in the survey were positive about their perspective of the country’s economy and their well-being in one year and within five years. Some respondents said that the economy’s condition is going to be «so-so» in one year (17.2%) and five years (11.6%), respectively.

Another group of respondents assessed the future of the economy as almost bad: 9.4% in one...

Kazakhstan wants its official representative to have a seat on the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, the country’s authorities won’t seek this goal through the courts. Kazakhstan is going to introduce a resolution about its intention at the organization’s upcoming general conference in Vienna, according to Aybek Smadiyarov, the official spokesperson of the country’s MFA.

What happened? The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan stated that it won’t sue the IAEA over the absence of representatives of Kazakhstan on the organization’s board.

«Over the entire history of the IAEA Kazakhstan is the...

Bereke Bank announced that it has restored transactions with cards issued by Mastercard.

As the bank highlighted, the restoration of cooperation with Mastercard took three months, which is two times faster than any similar experience across the globe. As of now, Bereke clients will be able to use Mastercard in Kazakhstan and abroad as usual. They can pay for their online purchases, make money transfers or withdraw cash from any ATMs.

According to Andrey Timchenko, CEO of Bereke Bank, the bank was connected to the Mastercard system as a new member. However, the bank hasn’t provided any timeframes for resuming...

Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov has ordered the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development to complete the revision of natural deposits in Kazakhstan by the end of this year.

«The ministries of digital development, industries and energy should complete the comprehensive analysis of all historical data and ensure that as much of this information is uploaded on the online platform as possible. The ministries of industry and energy should complete the revision of all deposits by the end of this year with sanctions against unfair subsoil users,» he said during the cabinet’s...

Fitch Ratings has affirmed Uzbekistan’s long-term foreign currency (LTFC) issuer default rating (IDR) at «BB-» with a stable outlook.

According to the agency’s last report, Uzbekistan’s ratings balance robust external and fiscal buffers, low government debt and a record of high growth relative to “BB” rated peers.

«Uzbekistan’s government is progressing with key structural economic reforms, including privatization of state-owned enterprises and a continued reduction in preferential lending to stimulate competition in the economy. The government plans to revive its energy tariff reform, after putting off implementation in May 2023. Successful implementation will benefit long-term public finances and reduce...