Kazakhstan not planning to ask for help

    On Thursday, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that the country was not planning to ask the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or other organizations for assistance in navigating the financial crisis, stating, “Thanks to the country's reserves, we are weathering the crisis more calmly than other countries.”
    The President said, “Kazakhstan has not asked anyone for a loan so far – neither the IMF nor the World Bank – to solve these crisis questions. And we will continue to work in this way.”
    In an interview with Reuters in March, John Litwack, World Bank Chief Economist for Kazakhstan, advised Kazakhstan to negotiate with the IMF for a loan in the event of a sharp deterioration of the situation with the balance of payments. The day following Mr. Litwack’s comments, Kazakhstan’s President made a decision to include a further US $4 billion to the US $21 billion allocated last year to deal with the crisis.
    The President’s comments were seconded by the Economy Minister, who agreed that outside help was unnecessary, according to Reuters.