BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) remains cautiously optimistic regarding the economic growth of Kazakhstan despite the challenges and the geopolitical spillovers, a source at ADB told Trend.
The source noted that trade restrictions and sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation negatively impacted supply chains in Kazakhstan and pushed inflation significantly above the central bank’s target range, which forced the National Bank of Kazakhstan to raise the key policy rate several times to 16.75 percent.
Despite the challenges, however, the Kazakh economy demonstrated amazing resilience.
“At the same time, the economy of Kazakhstan established new supply and value chains. Kazakhstan remained an attractive destination for foreign direct investment, and many companies relocated there,” the ADB representative added.
Another reason explaining Kazakhstan’s shock absorption capability is the increased demand for oil. The source notes that the country also benefitted from high oil prices, with merchandise exports rising by more than 40 percent to an all-time high in the past decade.
The ADB representative concluded by saying that, the oil sector revenues exceeded the state budget transfers, with the assets of the National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan increasing to $55.7 billion.