ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s Business Activity Index (BAI) continued to improve reaching 51.4 (50.9 in July) in August, according to the results of a monthly survey of enterprises conducted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
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The improvement was noted in all sectors. The greatest improvement was noted in the mining industry, where due to a noticeable increase in the volume of new orders, the index moved into the growth area, totaling 52.2 (in July – 49.8). In other sectors, there was also a slight improvement in the indicator compared to last month. In production, the index rose to 51.8 (from 51.7 in July), in service – to 51.1 (from 51.0), in construction – to 50.6 (from 50.4), reported the National Bank’s press service on Sept. 4.
Business activity improved in ten regions, worsened in eight regions. The highest index value was observed in the Abai Region (58.4), the lowest – in the Aktobe Region (44.6).
In August, the assessment of current business conditions decreased, but optimism about future business conditions improved.
According to enterprises, demand for their products and services continues to grow, but the growth rate has slowed slightly.
In August, there was an increase in demand in all sectors, especially in mining and construction, but in the service and production sectors, the growth rate of demand slowed down, while in production, the slowdown trend began in June this year.
Respondents negatively assessed business protection issues, while other factors (tax burden, infrastructure and access to finance/loans) were assessed almost neutrally.
BAI is an indicator that characterizes the state of the economy in the real sector, and allows studying the dynamics of economic trends, critical and turning points of the business cycle. The survey includes a set of answers from enterprises to questions concerning actual changes in economic indicators of enterprises and expectations regarding their changes in the future.
