ADB lowered its forecast for Kazakhstan’s economic growth to 0.4% in 2016

Almaty. July 19. Silkroadnews – Kazakhstan’s economic growth will stand at 0.4% in 2016, and 1% in 2017, the analysts at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) forecast.

“Kazakhstan’s economy growth forecast has been lowered to 0.4% from 0.7% for 2016 and is projected at 1% for 2017”, the ADB report released on Tuesday states.

As noted, the moderate commodity prices and recession in Russia have led to further deterioration in the forecast for Central Asia. The 2016 forecast, previously voiced as 2.1% for the region, has been lowered to 1.7%, and for 2017 – declined from 2.8% to 2.7%.

“Drop in revenues from hydrocarbon exports affects the fiscal consolidation efforts in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, at the same time the reduced remittances, especially from the Russian Federation, continue to have a negative impact on domestic consumption in the sub-region”, the document says.

ADB forecast for inflation in developing countries of Asia stands at 2.8% in 2016 and 3% in 2017, which is 0.3 percentage points higher compared to the previous forecasts. Growth is expected to be mainly due to higher oil and food prices. The price of oil has increased, while price increase for food products amounted to almost 9% in June 2016 compared to the previous year numbers, the statement notes.