The balance of payments of Kazakhstan is currently formed with a surplus as in the past year, said Zhasulan Muratov, deputy director of the balance of payments department of the National Bank of Kazakhstan. He commented on the country’s reported balance of payments for the first half of 2022, the press service of the National Bank of Kazakhstan reported.
“The current account of the balance of payments has developed with a surplus of $5.7 billion. I note that last year for the same period there was a deficit of $3.8 billion. The transition of the current account from a negative balance to a positive zone is associated with an improvement in the trade balance. Its surplus reached $20.9 billion. And it has significantly improved in comparison with the value of the comparable period last year by $12.6 billion,” Muratov explained.
He noted that in the second quarter of this year, the trade surplus reached a local maximum since 2014, amounting to $11.3 billion.
The export of goods increased by 56.8% compared to the same period last year and reached $42.3 billion. The export of goods was supported by stable external demand and high world prices for raw materials, in particular for oil – the export of hydrocarbons and gas condensate increased by 84 .7% and amounted to $24.8 billion.
Imports of goods, in turn, increased by 14.8%, to $21.4 billion. This was due to an increase in imports of intermediate (by 19.3%, or $1.8 billion) and non-food consumer goods (by 9.7%, or $409 million). ).
“Income of foreign direct investors in the reporting period also showed an increase of 31.7% (or $3.3 billion) and amounted to $13.9 billion. This growth is ensured by a high concentration of foreign investors in the commodity sector, primarily in the oil and gas sector. Traditionally, the growth of investors’ income held back the improvement of the current account, offsetting the increase in the trade balance surplus,” Zhasulan Muratov emphasized.
The financial account (excluding reserve assets) has a positive balance of $7.4 billion. “This means, in a net form, an increase in foreign assets and a reduction in external liabilities (in the first half of 2021, a net inflow of $2.8 billion was noted). The positive balance of the financial account was ensured mainly due to the operations of the public sector,” added the representative of the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
Reserve assets (excluding assets of the National Fund) as of July 1, 2022 were estimated at $32 billion, which allows covering the financing needs of 7.3 months of Kazakh imports of goods, works and services.
inozPRESS.kg,
Oct. 4, 2022