Kazakhstan lowers 2016 GDP forecast to 0.5% from 2.1%
ASTANA. Feb 23 (Interfax) - The Kazakh government has lowered its earlier GDP forecast for 2016 to 0.5%, Kazakh National Economy Minister Yerbolat Dosayev said on Tuesday.
"We are adjusting our forecasts related to economy growth. While GDP was expected to grow by 2.1% with [the oil price of] $40 per barrel [in 2016], we presume that, in line with a conservative scenario, GDP growth this year, with $30 per barrel, will be 0.5%. But, anyway, we are still in the black," Dosayev told journalists in Astana on Tuesday.
"The next parameters have also been revised: we have changed the exchange rate to 360 tenge/$1 from 300 tenge/$1, which was previously endorsed in November; we have also lowered the average yearly oil price, in keeping with forecasts by international financial institutions, investment banks, and oil and gas market experts, to $30 from $40 per barrel," he said.
The inflation forecast in Kazakhstan has not been revised and should be within 6%-8%, Dosayev said.
"Production in the mining industry should drop by some 5% and that in the processing industry by about 0.4%, and the agricultural sector should see 3.5% growth," he said.
"No external borrowings are planned this year. We are not going to enter foreign markets. All financing will be drawn only from internal sources," Dosayev said.
Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 1.2% in 2015, and the government's budget estimate for 2016-2018 envisions GDP growth of 2.1% in 2016.