ASTANA — The National Bank of Kazakhstan presented its annual report for 2023 at a May 21 meeting chaired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, reported the Akorda press service.
Photo credit: Akorda
The National Bank Chair Timur Suleimenov attended the meeting alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov, Chairperson of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market Madina Abylkassymova and Minister of Finance Madi Takiyev.
The meeting participants focused on the results of the implementation of monetary policy for 2023, measures to ensure financial stability and the state of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the National Bank, as well as the assets of the National Fund.
By the end of 2023, the country’s inflation had more than halved to 9.8%, and the base rate had been reduced to 14.75%. Deposit dollarization fell to 23.2%, reaching a 26-year low. At the same time, the National Bank’s gross gold and foreign exchange reserves in 2023 reached $36 billion, an increase of $0.9 billion, or 2.5%, compared to 2022.
The assets of the National Fund increased by $4.3 billion, reaching $60 billion, and the return on assets was 11.38%. The total volume of pension assets of the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund, which is in trust management of the National Bank, totaled 17.8 trillion tenge (US$40.3 billion), having increased by 3.2 trillion tenge (US$7.2 billion) over the year. The return on pension assets was 10.1%, exceeding the inflation rate.
A report on the Digital Tenge project’s advancement and digitalization initiatives was also presented. In 2023, the Anti-fraud Center and the Open API platform were introduced in pilot mode alongside financial market participants to prevent financial fraud.
Tokayev pointed out that 2023 was generally good for Kazakhstan despite geopolitical unrest, rising global inflation, and declining international trade. He said that the National Bank and the government must continue their coordinated efforts to maintain the country’s macroeconomic and financial stability in the current global environment.
Following the meeting, the President set tasks to strengthen the national financial market’s infrastructure and improve the effectiveness of the implemented policies.
