Kazakhstan's parliament ratifies $1.25 bln loan agreements with int'l financial institutions

ASTANA. Dec 12 (Interfax) - The Senate or upper house of Kazakhstan's parliament on Thursday ratified loan agreements worth 190 billion yen or $1.25 billion with international financial institutions, an Interfax correspondent reports.

The purpose of the loans is to develop priority areas of the economy and strengthen the country's economic sustainability.

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) is lending Kazakhstan 84.9 billion Japanese yen for 10 years, including a five-year grace period.

Agreements with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 52.3 billion yen and with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) for 52.7 billion yen were also ratified. These loans will be repayable in 15 years, including a three-year grace period.

Sergei Karplyuk, secretary of the Senate's Finance and Budget Committee, said at the meeting that all the adopted laws would enable Kazakhstan "to borrow money to finance the budget deficit for the current year," which is projected at 3.6 trillion tenge, or 2.7% of the country's GDP.

Finance Minister Madi Takiyev said earlier that the choice of loan currency was due to low base rates in Japan.

Kazakhstan's budget deficit is set at 2.7% of GDP in 2025.