Over the first five months of 2018, Kazakhstan's GDP grew by 3.9%. Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov said this during a government meeting.
"GDP growth amounted to 3.9%. In general, the economic recovery occurs against the backdrop of a continuing slowdown in inflation processes and high investment activity," the minister said.
Inflation since the beginning of the year amounted to 2.4%, which is 0.9% lower than the same period in 2017.
"Annual inflation is fixed at 6.2% May to May, which is the lowest value for the last 3 years," Suleimenov added.
He also said that as of June 1, 2018, the country's international reserves increased by 1.4% to $90.4 billion. Gold and foreign exchange reserves grew by 1.4% to $31.2 billion. The assets of the National Fund increased by 1.5% up to 59.2 billion dollar.
"Industrial production maintains a steady increase. The growth amounted to 5.4%. The mining industry retains the accelerated rates of development at 5.6%. The main support for the growth of the extractive industry is provided by the oil and gas industry. The production of oil increased by 6.4% and natural gas by 6.5%. At the same time, the positive contribution of ore mining remains. According to them, the growth amounted to 3.6%," the minister said.
The manufacturing industry continues to determine trends in the dynamics of industrial production. The growth amounted to 5.5%. Among the processing industries, double-digit growth is demonstrated by the production of paper products at 14.4%, the chemical industry at 11.2% and engineering at 12.2%.
"At the same time, the main processing industries also make a positive contribution. The production of beverages increased by 8.1%, food by 6.3% and oil processing by 4.3%, pharmaceuticals by 6.1%, and ferrous metallurgy by 6.0%," Suleimenov said.
The volume of agriculture has not changed and remained at a positive mark of 3.9%. The increase is due to the steady growth in livestock production by 4.0%.
At the same time, the construction industry shows uneven dynamics throughout the year.
"The growth of the construction industry, increasing by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, approached the zero value in January-May by 0.3%. The slowdown is due to a decrease in works to modernise the Pavlodar petrochemical plant, the construction of trunk pipelines and industrial facilities, as well as the multifunctional complex Abu Dhabi Plaza," Suleimenov said.
By Salim Sakenov for Kursiv (Kazakhstan).
