KAZAKHSTAN
Analyst
Evgeny Gavrilenkov
Former Investment Bank Chief EconomistRecent Country Insights
Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 29 Jul 2026
Jul 16 International arbitration: United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) arbitration has temporarily banned Kazakhstan from enforcing KZT 2.3 trln fine against the operator (NCOC, North Caspian Operating Company) of the Kashagan oil field until an arbitration decision is ...
Kazakhstan macro: The economy becomes more resilient to external shocks
KAZAKHSTAN · Report · 20 Jul 2026
The Ministry of Finance released budget execution statistics that looked fairly positive, although revenues likely fell short of government expectations. Kazakhstan faced some bad luck early in the year when the CPC oil terminal was damaged, hurting both economic growth and budget revenues in Jan...
Economic growth remains steady
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 15 Jul 2026
The Bureau of National Statistics reported that the short-term indicator, which tracks monthly aggregate economic activity across industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, trade, and communications, grew by 5.1% y-o-y in 1H26, up from 4.3% y-o-y in 5M26. The Bureau also released detail...
Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 15 Jul 2026
Jul 2 Energy Ministry: Russia has not requested fuel supplies, including humanitarian aid. Alatau City Bank: The bank has decided to return KZT 125.3 bln ($261.4 mln) of state aid to the government ahead of schedule. President: Mobile operator VEON, a multinational telecommunication and digital s...
Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 01 Jul 2026
Jun 18 NBK: A national strategic crypto reserve with an investment target of $1 bln has been established in the country. NBK: In June, the Bank, as a regulator, changed investment declaration of the Unified Pension Fun and added new guidelines for alternative investment instruments to be a part o...
With inflation still high in June, the NBK will probably hold steady in July
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 01 Jul 2026
The Bureau of National Statistics reported a slight y-o-y inflation slowdown (to 10.3% from 10.4% in May), but m-o-m inflation ticked up to 0.8% from 0.7% in May, showing disinflation has nearly stalled since October 2025. Last year’s sharp base rate hike cooled the economy and slowed household c...
Kazakhstan macro: The NBK cut the base rate and upgraded its growth forecast
KAZAKHSTAN · Forecast · 18 Jun 2026
Recently, several organizations released updated forecasts for Kazakhstan’s economy in 2026, and the outlook is looking a bit brighter than a few months ago. The economy is steadily moving toward a more balanced growth path while easing past overheating caused by heavy budget spending and rapid h...
Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 17 Jun 2026 · 1 response
Jun 4 Qazaqgaz: The company and Russian Gazprom signed an agreement on additional gas supplies to Kazakhstan in 2026 Jun 5 NBK: The regulator lowered the base rate from 18% to 17%. NBK: The Bank has raised its forecast for the country's GDP growth in 2026 to 4.5-5.5% from the previously expected ...
Economic growth moderated but remains stable
KAZAKHSTAN · In Brief · 15 Jun 2026
The Bureau of National Statistics reported that the short-term indicator, which measures combined economic activity in industry, agriculture, construction, transportation, IT/communications, and trade, grew by 4.3% y-o-y in 5M26, slightly higher than the 4.2% growth in the first four months. In M...