NUR-SULTAN – Minister of National Economy Ruslan Dalenov reported on the socio-economic situation during the first nine months of 2020 in an Oct. 13 government meeting. The economy revived in September as development trends for many industries reversed and went in a positive direction.
Kazakh Economy Minister Ruslan Dalenov. Photo credit: primeminister.kz.
“If we consider September separately, then many service sectors began to show recovery growth. The growth factors were related to exports, production, and investments in non-extractive sectors,” Dalenov said. “Indicators for September demonstrate a revival of business activity. The service sector is recovering.”
According to operational data, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate improved from minus 3 percent in eight months to minus 2.8 percent in nine months. Annual inflation remained at 7 percent, Dalenov said.
The real sector showed continuous positive growth. The growth rate accelerated to 2.2 percent mainly due to growth in construction, information, communication, agriculture, and the manufacturing sectors.
At the same time, there has been a decrease in transport and trade, administrative services, real estate transactions, accommodation, and food.
For the first eight months of 2020, exports totaled $31.9 billion and created a trade surplus of $8.1 billion. Exports of finished and processed products increased. The export of automobiles and ferrosilicon each had an almost six-fold increase. Sunflower oil exports increased by 86.1 percent, iron bars – 33.1 percent, titanium ingots – 9.5 percent.
The production in the manufacturing industry had a significant increase throughout the first nine months. The automotive industry increased by 51.6 percent, pharmaceuticals – 39.8 percent, finished metal products – 18.9 percent, paper products – 15.1 percent, and light industry – 14.1 percent.
Kazakhstan also saw investment growth in the economy, except for in the mining industry. Investments in healthcare increased by 85.7 percent, communications – 62.4 percent, water supply – 27.4 percent, housing – 25.2 percent, agro-industrial complex – 15.1 percent, processing – 7.3 percent, and transportation– 5.7 percent.
The Kazakh economy attracted 8.3 trillion tenge (US$19.39 billion) of investments in fixed assets. Thirteen regions experienced investment growth. The Turkestan Region and Shymkent took the lion’s share.
