Within the framework of the second tranche of the National Fund, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) allocated 50 billion tenge (US$269.3 million) to the second-tier banks for processing enterprises financing, the bank recently stated. According to the DBK, long-term loan resources have been distributed among twelve second-tier banks that have loan agreements with the DBK. As a result, soft financing will be applied to the chemical and metallurgic industries and food production, beverages, clothing, furniture, oil products and main pharmaceutical products enterprises. In accordance with approved conditions, no more than 50 percent of the second tranche should finance new projects and 25 percent will be forwarded to refinance previous loans. The nominal rate of return will not exceed 6 percent per annum and the lending term for new projects will reach 10 years. The loan will be issued in national currency and the soft period of main debt will be no more than 24 months. According to interbank lending, the terms of using loan resources issued for investment purposes is 12 month and refinancing of previous loans of the second-tier banks is six months. In December 2014, the DBK received the first tranche of national funds worth 50 billion tenge (US$269.3 million) from Baiterek National Holding for long-term lending projects in the processing industry. Due to the first tranche, nine commercial projects worth 20.3 billion tenge (US$109.3 million) were approved as of March 26. Financing of eight projects worth 4.4 billion tenge (US$23.7 million) has already been launched.
In March, the decrease in prices for certain food products, as well as the reprocessing industry and oil products, was observed, said the Kazakh Committee of Statistics. Beech wheat prices fell 5.6 percent, rye flower –4.9 percent, meat – 2.5 percent, vegetable oil –2 percent, milk products and sugar – 0.7 percent and fish – 0.6 percent. According to the committee, there was a 0.5 percent decrease in the processing industry. In addition, the prices for oil decreased by 1.6 percent, petrol by 0.5 percent.
Four thousand jobs will be created within the government programmes in Astana, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Berdibek Saparbayev said at the March 31 meeting, Astana’s Brand: Resident Welfare. “According to our forecast, due to the implementation of the government programmes, over 400,000 jobs including 4,000 jobs in Astana will be created,” he said. He also noted that there is a shortage of medical personnel in the field. More than 4,000 doctors graduate annually from seven medical institutions. According to Saparbayev, in order to eliminate the resulting shortage of personnel, a long-term planning system is required. In addition, the deputy prime minister instructed to develop accounting rules and employment and accommodation for visitors to the capital in conjunction with the Kazakh Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Health and Social Development.
Growth in the Kazakh trade sector has reached 13-15 percent per year, Mazhilis (lower chamber of the Kazakh Parliament) member Yelena Tarasenko said at a March 30 Central Communication Services (CCS) briefing. “The trade sector is significant in the economy of the country; its volume reached 5.3 trillion tenge (US$28.5 billion). During the last five years, trade increased by 13-15 percent annually,” said Tarasenko. According to the parliament member, the volume of retail sales increased by 40 times for the period of 1995-2014. Retail sales in Kazakhstan are characterised by the high significance of markets and low share of modern trade formats, she said. Tarasenko also mentioned that trade objects were offered forclassification depending on the area in developing the draft law “on amendments and additions in certain legislative acts of Kazakhstan on trade activities to solve the issues of trade recording.
