Kazakhstan cuts 2009 Inflation Outlook to 6.5 Percent

    Kazakhstan has cut its 2009 inflation outlook to 6.5 percent from 7.0 percent, Statistics Agency Chief Alikhan Smailov said on Wednesday.
    "I think inflation will be no more than 6.5 percent in December-to-December," Smailov told reporters.
    Annual inflation in Kazakhstan slowed to 5.8 percent in November, from 9.5 percent at the end of 2008 as Central Asia's largest economy entered a recession this year.
    The government expects the oil-dominated economy to avoid a full-year contraction and grow at least 0.1 percent but many economists forecast negative figures, Reuters reports.