Economic growth and inflation slowdown: Government sums up 2023 year results
In 2023, the government of Kazakhstan continued implementing the large-scale reforms outlined by Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in his Election Program and state-of-the-nation addresses to the people of Kazakhstan. The new legislative norms came into force, a number of major governmental initiatives, including the “Comfortable School” and “Rural Healthcare Modernization” national projects were launched, Kazinform News Agency reports citing the press office of the Kazakh government.
At the same time, the implementation of the government’s anti-crisis measures continued, which made it possible to reduce the high pressure of external shocks and lay the foundation for economic development for the upcoming period.
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assigned the Government with the task of doubling the volume of national economy to $450 billion. To achieve this goal, measures will be taken to achieve a stable annual economic growth of at least 6%. In particular, one of the key roles in achieving this strategic goal will be the implementation of projects in processing industry.
Major economic indicators
• Kazakhstan's economy has successfully adapted to new external conditions and has entered a trajectory of sustainable growth this year. In January-November, this growth made 4.9%, against 2.7% in the same period in 2022. Per capita GDP increased from $11,500 to 13,300.
• Inflation in annual terms slowed to 10.3% in November, compared to 20.3% in December 2022. This was achieved thanks to the implementation of an appropriate package of measures, which included 90 operational and medium-term steps.
• The volume of foreign direct investments in six months of 2023 reached $13.3 billion, quite a high indicator guarantying support for economic growth in a mid-term perspective. The government plans to raise this volume to $27 billion by 2023 end.
• 210 new investment projects worth 967.7 billion tenge were launched in all sectors of economy, having generated 19,500 jobs. 291 projects worth 1.6 trillion tenge are set to be commissioned by the end of the year.
• Production in mechanical engineering sector is rising at a record pace - by 26.8%. Meanwhile, car-making industry and electrical equipment production sectors demonstrate higher indicators - 41% and 32% respectively.
• In 2023, Kazakhstan exported goods amounting to $65 billion. The volume of the export of processed goods reached $21 billion.
• In the IMD global competitiveness ranking, Kazakhstan climbed up by 6 lines compared to the last year and ranks 37th out of 64 countries.
• The country has implemented new initiatives to improve business climate and business conditions. Thus, additional mechanisms have been introduced for investment agreements, enabling to conclude agreements with large investors on individual terms.
• The terms of the Economy of Simple Things state program of entrepreneurship support have been improved
• 10 thousand unnecessary business requirements have been eliminated.
• State support for business entities (subsidies and guarantees) is increased every year. 2.3 trillion tenge was allocated for this purpose through the Baiterek Holding. Small and medium businesses support rose from 209 billion to 288 billion tenge.
• In general, the measures taken by the state enabled to boost the output of SMEs from 23 trillion tenge (in six months of 2022) to 29 trillion tenge (the same period in 2023). The number of citizens employed in SMEs increased by 500 thousand to 4.3 million people. The share of SMEs in the country's GDP reached 36.4%.
• One billion tenge was transferred to the Kazakhstan Khalkyna Public Fund. About 2 billion tenge was allocated to the Education Infrastructure Support Fund.
