Tuesday, August 14, 2012 -
Preliminary data suggests Kazakhstan’s economy slowed to 5.6 percent for the January to June 30 2012 period year-on-year, the Kazakh State Statistics Agency said on Tuesday.
The slowdown from 7.1 percent over the first six months of 2011 reflects the current lackluster global demand for commodities.
In full-year 2011, the region’s largest economy went on to grow by 7.5 percent.
By comparison, both the International Monetary fund (IMF) and Astana government agree a 6.0 percent GDP growth forecast for full 2012.
Kazakhstan saw trade with main business partners China and Russia shrink as a result of their declining economic growth, along with a lessening of two-way trading with debt-wracked Europe.
It is the second largest crude oil producer among the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) bloc of former Soviet republics after Russia, and also a global player in the metals markets.
The State Statistics Agency will release its finalized gross domestic product figures by Thursday.
Separately, Kazakh state energy firm KazMunaiGas Exploration Production (KMG EP) said Tuesday its net profit rose 6 percent to $120 million in the six-month period to June 30, 2012, versus the same period a year earlier.
The firm’s healthy earnings were helped by a 33 percent rise in the price of domestic petroleum products, not by increasing demand for the commodity.