BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 2. Kazakhstan recorded a deficit of $1.6 billion in its current account balance of payments in the first quarter of this year, while in the same period of the previous year, there was a surplus of $4.8 billion, Trend reports via the preliminary assessment of the balance of payments of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
According to the bank, the transition from a positive current account to a negative one is primarily related to a decrease in the trade surplus, which amounted to $5.1 billion, a decrease of 58.3 percent or 7.1 billion. The decrease in the surplus is due to an increase in imports of goods amid a reduction in exports.
The export of goods under the balance of payments methodology decreased by 14.4 percent compared to the same period last year and amounted to $18.8 billion. The decline in exports is associated with a drop in exports of oil and gas condensate by 25.7 percent, or $3.5 billion.
In contrast to exports, imports of goods under the balance of payments methodology, increased by 41.4 percent to $13.7 billion. This is due to the growth of imports in all categories. The largest increase was observed in non-food consumer goods (up 67.2 percent, or $1.4 billion) and investment goods (up 61.7 percent, or $1.1 billion).
The income of foreign direct investors in the reporting period decreased by 7.5 percent (or $0.5 billion) and amounted to $6.1 billion.
The financial account (excluding reserve assets) generated a positive balance (net outflow) of $0.7 billion, mainly due to public sector operations.
Reserve assets (excluding assets of the National Fund) as of April 1, 2023, were estimated at $36.2 billion. This covers the financing needs of 6.9 months' worth of Kazakh imports of goods and services.
