President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held the session, at which the updated forecast of the country's development and proposals for updating the national budget were considered. The meeting featured Prime Minister Askar Mamin, Chief of Staff of the President Yerlan Koshanov, Governor of the National Bank Yerbolat Dossayev and others.
During the meeting, the Government presented forecasts of socio-economic development and proposals for updating the national budget for 2020, taking into account the situation in the global economy, trends in commodity markets and preliminary results of the first quarter of 2021. In particular, the real GDP growth in the current year is projected at 3.1 % with an increase to the approved indicator of 0.3 %. The inflation rate remained in the range of 4-6 %.
The main task of clarifying the budget is to implement the Presidential instructions voiced in his State of the Nation Address and the implementation of the election platform of the Nur Otan party. In this regard, both the revenue and expenditure parts of the budget are expected to grow.
Additional funds will be allocated for the development of highways, further implementation of the project “Auyl - El Besigi”, support for business entities in the most affected sectors of the economy, the implementation of the Employment Roadmap, and the development of the agro-industrial complex.
Additional costs for combating the pandemic will go to the payment of allowances to health care workers and payment for medical services. Moreover, funds are planned for housing provision for military personnel, flood prevention measures, as well as the construction and reconstruction of water supply and sanitation systems.
Following the discussion, President Tokayev gave instructions on optimizing expenditures and increasing budget revenues, improving the public procurement system, developing infrastructure and digitalization, as well as intensifying work to reduce the state’s share in the economy as part of a Comprehensive Privatization Plan.
