Kazakh president urges gov't to save budget funds
By Aynur Karimova
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has urged the government to save budget funds at a meeting with Prime Minister Karim Massimov and Head of the Presidential Administration Nurlan Nigmatullin, the press service of the president reported on August 3.
"Due to the deteriorating market conditions, as well as the lowering prices for our main export products, it is necessary to introduce general saving of funds. These measures should be provided in the next year's budget," the president said.
President Nazarbayev further added that despite all the difficulties, the government should prevent the slowdown of economic growth and the worsening of the social situation of Kazakh citizens.
"It is necessary to provide all social obligations to the population. We have to overcome these difficult times," he noted.
The meeting was also attended by First Deputy Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Baglan Maylybayev, Assistant to the President Nurlan Onzhanov and National Economy Minister Yerbolat Dosayev.
The current state of the economy and the measures for its further development, as well as the organization and holding of the "EXPO-2017" in Astana were among the topics discussed.
The meeting addressed issues related to the preparation for the upcoming anniversaries, including the 550th anniversary of the Kazakh Khanate, the 20th anniversary of the Kazakh Constitution and a number of other international events.
The dramatic fall in global oil prices has complicated the economic situation in Kazakhstan, which is heavily dependent on energy revenues. Kazakh economy strongly hurt after the oil prices fall about 50 percent since mid 2014.
Kazakh government is also grappling with economic difficulties emerging from the hard economic situation in Russia, its biggest trade partner.
The government is making efforts to prevent the sharp devaluation of national currency-tenge that could dramatically worsen the economic situation in the country. The pressure on the tenge keeps on growing.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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