ASTANA – Kazakh economic activity continues to maintain positive dynamics, though with some slowdown. GDP growth from January-April fell slightly to 3.8 percent, compared to the growth of 4 percent year on year last year, noted Minister of National Economy Timur Suleimenov during the May 15 government meeting.

“In the meantime, the labour market remains stable. Since the beginning of this year, 134,800 people have been employed. The real wage rate grew 1.2 percent. In January-April, the average monthly salary was 152,300 tenge (US$462.20),” he said.

National Bank gold and foreign currency reserves grew 3 percent to $30.6 billion against the corresponding period last year, according first deputy chair Oleg Smolyakov. At the same time, the bank’s assets decreased 5.6 percent to $59.3 billion.

The foreign trade turnover for January-March reached $21 billion, with $13.8 billion in exports and $7.2 billion in imports.

Minister of Finance Bakhyt Sultanov noted the national budget received 1.78 trillion tenge (US$5.4 billion), 16 billion tenge (US$48.5 million) more than scheduled. The 110.7-percent growth rate was achieved mainly through tax contributions. The excess profit tax provided 8.5 billion tenge (US$25.8 million), as the export customs duty on crude oil generated 32.1 billion tenge (US$97.4 million).

Reporting on the January-April preliminary results of the energy sector’s main economic indicators, Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbaev noted the volume of oil and condensate production stood at 105.9 percent compared to the same period last year.

“Approximately 24.1 million tonnes of oil were exported over four months. The volume of oil refining was 5.1 million tonnes,” he said.

The demand for diesel fuel was fully covered in accordance with the Agriculture Ministry request. The recommended price of diesel fuel in March to complete spring field work was 130 tenge (US$0.40) per litre.

Following the meeting, Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev instructed the relevant ministers to take adequate measures to ensure further economic growth.