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Annual Report 2002 : East and Central Asia

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Kazakhstan

Economic performance

Kazakhstan’s GDP continued to grow in 2002 at 9.5%, with the oil and metal subsectors boosting industry sector output by 9.8%. Agriculture sector output rose by 2.7%, while construction activities increased, mainly in infrastructure development for the new capital, Astana.

Living standards improved as per capita income in constant prices rose by 7.4%. Average real monthly wages increased by 10% over the 2001 level. The actual unemployment rate fell from 10.4% in 2001 to 9.4% in 2002.

Overall annual inflation, measured by CPI, fell from 8.4% in 2001 to 5.9% in 2002. A stable exchange rate—with the tenge depreciating by 3.2% against the United States (US) dollar in nominal terms—helped moderate inflation.

Total government revenues fell to 21.9% of GDP in 2002, compared with 23.0% in 2001. The general government budget recorded a surplus equivalent to 0.02% in 2002, compared with a deficit of 0.40% of GDP in 2001.

ADB operations

Operational strategy: ADB’s strategy for Kazakhstan sup-ports the Government’s reform agenda, institutional change, and social protection; promotes natural resource management; strengthens long-term growth potential; and encourages private sector development. The strategy focuses on manage-ment reform at the central and local government levels; infrastructure development, particularly rehabilitation projects; education and training; industry, reforming medium-sized enterprises; agriculture and rural development; and private sector development. In 2002, ADB began preparing a new CSP that will include the assistance program for 2004–2006.

Policy dialogue: ADB helped the Government develop a sector poverty reduction program, identify potential growth areas in rural development, and facilitate the development of efficient investment programs. ADB prepared an analysis of fiscal strategies and engaged the Government in policy dialogue on available fiscal options. In addition, the Government addressed regional cooperation issues, especially on trade and customs facilitation.

Loans and technical assistance: No loans were approved in 2002. Eight technical assistance totaling $2.1 million were approved (see tables 24 and 25 in the Statistical Annex).

Project implementation: Since joining ADB in 1994, Kazakhstan has received 11 loans totaling $467 million, of which 6 were active at the end of 2002. Contract awards totaled $24.8 million, bringing the cumulative figure to $382.9 million. The contract awards ratio for 2002 was 27.9%—higher than ADB’s average of 22.6%. Disbursements during the year totaled $7.5 million, bringing cumulative disbursements to $363.0 million. The disbursement ratio was 8.1%—lower than the ADB-wide average of 22.2% (see tables 14–23 in the Statistical Annex).

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