Kazakh economy grows 4.9 percent in first nine months of 2023 

Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 4.9 percent in the first nine months of 2003, mainly thanks to the extracting sector, according to a report by the High Audit Chamber.  

There was a drop in agricultural production, but a significant increase in imports, as well as a rise in consumer prices, the report said.   

The Chamber’s report says that overall industrial production dropped by 5.5 percent compared to the same period last year. 

The processing sector grew by 3.2 percent in the period in question, with the main driver being the machine-building industry, which grew by 27.3 percent. The food production industry grew by 3.3 percent. 

Production in the agricultural sector fell by almost 10 percent in January-September this year, despite the allocation of 340bn tenge (740m dollars) for agricultural development in this year’s budget. 

According to the Audit Chamber’s report, national exports fell by 10.2 percent in January-September 2023 compared to the same period of last year, amounting to 57.5bn dollars – crude oil made up 54.4 percent, refined copper and unprocessed copper alloys 4.4 percent, ore and copper concentrate 3.7 percent, ferrous alloys 3.1 percent, and wheat and meslin 2.6 percent.  

Imports increased by 25 percent, amounting to 44.5bn dollars. 

According to the report real investments grew in the first nine months of the year by 12.1 percent, amounting to 8.7tn tenge (about 29bn dollars), 14.5 percent of which came from the national budget. 

Almost half of the real investment (47.9 percent) was made in the industrial sector, and the bulk of that was in extracting companies.  

There was a 49-percent rise in investments in the transportation and storage sectors; a 31-percent rise in the education sector, and a 30-percent rise in the retail sector. However, those sectors’ share of the entire economy remains relatively small. 

In October, the government reported that in the first eight months of the year investments in the processing industry dropped by 70 percent in Akmola Region, and by 18 percent in Aktobe and Ulytau regions. 

In the first nine months of the year, consumer goods prices grew by 16.1 percent, with foodstuffs going up in price by 17.3 percent, other goods by 16.6 percent, and services by 13.7 percent. 

Utility charges went up too, with cold water and electricity tariffs increasing by 15.2 percent, and

heating and house maintenance by 10.1 percent. 

National budget expenditure increased by 21.5 percent on the same period of last year, the report said. 

Separately, on Tuesday, the Finance Ministry reported that the national budget 2023 had been implemented by 98.6 percent in the first 11 months of the year, with revenues amounting to 18.2tln tenge (about 39bn dollars). 

By Maksim Yelizarov 

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