World Grain - May 2016 - 20

COUNTRY FOCUS

Focus on Kazakhstan
Country is a major flour exporter,
particularly to neighboring countries.
by Chris Lyddon

Landlocked Kazakhstan is a major exporter of grain, particularly in
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R u s s i a

China

Uzbekistan

Kyrgyzstan

Turkmenistan

Tajikistan

I r a n

20

Afghanistan

Key Facts
Capital: Astana
Population: 18,157,122 (July 2015 est.)
Religions: Muslim 70.2%, Christian 26.2% (mainly Russian Orthodox), other 0.2%, atheist 2.8% (2009 est.).
Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion
west of the Ural (Zhayyq) River in easternmost Europe.
Government: Republic; authoritarian presidential rule.
Chief of state: President Nursultan Abishuly Nasarbayev
(since Dec. 1, 1991); head of government: Prime Minister
Karim Masimov (since April 2, 2014).
Economy: Kazakhstan, geographically the largest of the
former Soviet republics, excluding Russia, possesses substantial fossil fuel reserves and other minerals and metals,
such as uranium, copper, and zinc. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. The government
realizes that its economy suffers from an overreliance on oil
and extractive industries so it has embarked on an ambitious diversification program, aimed at developing targeted
sectors like transport, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications,
petrochemicals and food processing. Kazakhstan is landlocked, with restricted access to the high seas, and it depends on Russia to export its oil to Europe. In 2010, Kazakhstan joined Russia and Belarus to establish a Customs Union
in an effort to boost foreign investment and improve trade.
The Customs Union evolved into a Single Economic Space
in 2012 and the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in January 2015. The economic downturn in its EEU partner, Russia,
and the decline in global commodity prices have contributed
to the economic slowdown in Kazakhstan, which is experiencing its slowest economic growth since the financial crises
of 2008-09. Kazakhstan devalued its currency, the tenge,
by 19% in February 2014 and in November 2014, the government announced a stimulus package to cope with the
economic challenges. In spring 2015, Kazakhstan embarked
on an ambitious reform agenda to modernize its economy
and improve its institutions. In the face of further decline in
the ruble, oil prices, and the regional economic slowdown,
Kazakhstan announced in August 2015 that it would cancel
its currency band in favor of a floating exchange rate.
GDP per capita:  $24,700 (2015 est.); inflation: 5.3%
(2015 est.); unemployment: 5% (2015 est.).
Currency: Tenge (KZT): 330.4 tenges equal 1 U.S. dollar
(April 18, 2016).
Exports: $45.37 billion (2015 est.): oil and oil products,
natural gas, ferrous metals, chemicals, machinery, grain,
wool, meat, coal.
Imports: $31.64 billion (2015 est.): machinery and equipment, metal products, foodstuffs.
Major crops/agricultural products: grain (mostly spring
wheat and barley), potatoes, vegetables, melons; livestock.
Agriculture: 4.8% of GDP and 25.8% of the labor force.
Internet: Code: .kz; 67,464 (2012) hosts and 10.6 million
users.
Source: CIA World Factbook

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