Kazakh Senate reviews 2023 budget report

ASTANA. June 13 (Interfax) - The Kazakh Senate, the upper chamber of the country's parliament, has reviewed the government's report from the Supreme Chamber of Auditors on the execution of the 2023 government budget.

Minister of Finance Madi Takiyev reported GDP growth of 5.1% for 2023 and a significant reduction in inflation to 9.8%, halving from the previous year.

Total revenues to the government budget amounted to 19.296 trillion tenge, slightly below the target by 0.1%, while expenditure reached 22.417 trillion tenge, 0.4% below target. In 2022, revenues exceeded expectations at 16.1 trillion tenge (2.1% above target), with expenditure at 18.5 trillion tenge (1.4% below target). The budget deficit for 2023 was 2.6% of GDP.

Minister Takiyev noted a 101-billion-tenge shortfall in revenues, totaling 14.5 trillion tenge. Tax revenues increased by 29% to 12.9 trillion tenge from 2022, supported by substantial one-time payments and enhanced tax administration yielding 872 billion tenge and 931 billion tenge, respectively.

Major tax contributions came from Samruk-Kazyna (273.3 billion tenge), Uranium Group JSC (160 billion tenge), Kcell (78.3 billion tenge), Mobile Telecom Service (78 billion tenge), and TEX ALLIANCE LLP (55.2 billion tenge).

Audit findings uncovered misused budget funds totaling 489 billion tenge, prompting corrective actions. The Supreme Audit Chamber conducted 23 audits resulting in legal actions against 123 officials and administrative sanctions for 32 individuals and entities. Notably, 28 billion tenge were recovered and reimbursed during the reporting period.

A joint meeting of the parliamentary chambers will further scrutinize the detailed reports from the government and the Supreme Court of Audit.

As of June 13, the exchange rate stands at 451.77 tenge/$1.