Bi-Weekly Economic News Summary

KAZAKHSTAN - In Brief 05 Aug 2022 by Alexander Kudrin

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July 25 NBK: The National Bank of Kazakhstan has decided to hike the base rate from 14 to 14.5% July 26 Ministry of Agriculture: The wheat harvest in Kazakhstan in 2022 may reach 13-13.5 mln tons (+15-20% y-o-y) July 28 Shell: CPC is looking at alternative routes for oil exports from Kazakhstan July 29 EBRD: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will invest KZT45.8 bln (about $95.6 million) in KTZ bonds CPC: The Tengiz-Novorossiysk oil pipeline (part of CPC) has resumed operation in regular mode after repair work on the power supply Aug 1 NBK: The current account surplus in 1H22 reached $6.6 bln (compared to a negative gap in 1H21, which amounted to $2.8 bln) Aug 3 The Energy Ministry: Kazakhstan will inevitably have to solve issues related to the diversification of oil supplies amid growing external demand and production of crude oil in Kazakhstan; the government considers routes to China, through the Caspian Sea, and by sea to Iran. TCO: Tengizchevroil increased oil production by 5.9% y-o-y in 1H22, to 14.3 mln tons Aug 5 NBK: The regulator published the Financial Stability Report and pointed to the ongoing de-dollarization of deposits in the banking system. The percentage of dollar deposits fell from 39% in 2020 to 37% in 2021 and 33% in May 2022.