Kazakhstani govt and National Bank work out operating plan to support economy in conditions of tenge floating exchange rate
ASTANA. Aug 23 (Interfax) - An operating plan of the government and National Bank of Kazakhstan in conditions of transition to inflation targeting has been approved at an intercom conference, the press service of the Kazakh prime minister reports.
The plant covers five directions and is aimed at supporting the economy as a whole and individual sectors, a newsletter circulated on Saturday says.
In compliance with the plan the efforts of the government and the National Bank will be concentrated on supporting the real sector of the economy and stimulating private investment, employment and job-creation, maintaining financial stability, effectively using the National Fund and guaranteeing a balanced national budget.
National Economy Minister Yerbolat Dosayev stressed that "the optimization of financing state and industry programs will be continued and completed in conditions of limited financial resources with the redistribution of means to priority directions."
Dosayev added that "the plan of operative measures will be supplemented by measures to prevent the growth of prices of socially-significant commodities and the development of a mechanism of compensating time deposits of individuals and depositors of Zhilstroisberbank."
The plan also includes a regional section covering measures to support industrial facilities and vulnerable sections of the population and guarantee employment.
"The implementation of other prompt measures is also implied, including non-tariff regulation of foreign trade, the protection of the domestic market aimed at generally stabilizing the situation in the real sector of the economy," he added.
Cabinet members also mulled a set of measures to prevent the growth of prices of socially-significant staples which imply the regulation of threshold sizes of the prices of such commodities, anti-monopoly response measures and the prevention of unfair competition. At the same time Dosayev stressed that the heads of regional administrations should take steps to conduct commodity interventions through stabilization funds and regularly hold agricultural fairs.
"In addition, the prices of socially-significant staples will be monitored on a daily basis and key commodity markets will be analyzed before the end of the year to indentify and remove existing barriers obstructing competition," Dosayev summed up.
At the end of the conference Prime Minister Karim Masimov gave several instructions to the heads of the relevant government bodies.
On August 20 Kazakhstan switched to a free floating exchange rate of its national currency - tenge.