Kazakhstan may declare moratorium on tariffs increase by year-end.

By bne IntelliNews April 17, 2014

The Kazakh government can declare moratorium on raising tariffs by natural monopolies until the end of 2014, Kairat Kelimbetov head of National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) has stated.

After devaluation of national currency by nearly 20% in early February, the government decided to raise social benefits of the population by increasing wages in public sector by 10% and demanding export-oriented companies to do the same. At the same time, the inflation goal of 6-8% remained unchanged. Thus, the authorities are presently looking for leverages that would enable them to curb inflation. One of them is a moratorium on natural monopolies rates which is currently valid until May 1. Prolongation of the moratorium would be a step to curb inflation pressure in long-run.

The government is also monitoring prices for basic foodstuffs. The NBK and the local executive bodies apply a ‘manual approach’ to the issue, Kelimbetov has added. He also revealed that the NBK is monitoring situation with Russian currency RUR and inflation in Russia (the biggest source of imports for Kazakhstan). Kazakhstan has no custom border with Russia as both countries are members of the Customs Union. Thus, the NBK is afraid of importing inflation from the northern neighbor.

Read in IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Related Articles

Controversial Czech company threatens Kyrgyzstan with arbitration for loss of hydro contracts

Czech company Liglass Trading has threatened Kyrgyzstan with international arbitration for the annulling of contracts to build and run 12 hydroelectric power plants, Reuters ... more

Kazakhstan to issue Islamic bonds worth $300mn in 2018

Kazakhstan will issue Islamic bonds, or Sukuk, worth $300mn in 2018, the Astana Times reported on September 15 citing Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev’s ... more

Kazakh foreign trade surplus widens 59.1% y/y

Kazakhstan's foreign trade surplus stood at $10.98bn in January-July, the Statistics Committee said on September 12. The surplus widened by 59.1% from $6.9bn in the same ... more

Most Read

  1. ISTANBUL BLOG: Commerzbank ignites quarrel claiming Turkey’s official growth figures are “more than questionable”
    7 days ago
  2. Volkswagen doubles exports of Russia-made cars
    4 days ago
  3. KYIV BLOG: Ukraine headed for a constitutional crisis
    6 days ago
  4. Turkey’s decision to buy Russian missile-defence system alarms Washington
    7 days ago
  5. Eastern Europe on alert as Russia targets “West” in largest war games for years
    5 days ago
  1. Hungary threatens to block Romania’s OECD accession
    13 days ago
  2. Economists tangle over risk of a Greek-style collapse in Turkey
    17 days ago
  3. ISTANBUL BLOG: Commerzbank ignites quarrel claiming Turkey’s official growth figures are “more than questionable”
    7 days ago
  4. Wild capitalism threatens the untamed rivers of Southeast Europe
    1 month ago
  5. Russia’s government moves from war budget to election budget
    25 days ago

Selected articles from our premium news/views wire IntelliNews Pro

Login to IntelliNews Pro
Get IntelliNews Pro

Reports

Dismiss