National Fund Brings Investors to Kazakhstan - Economist

Investors need guarantees in Kazakhstan. Guarantees that they will be able to appeal to the international court and receive several million from the country's National Fund in compensation if conflicts arise, an Orda correspondent reports.

Economist Rasul Rysmambetov stated this, commenting on the news that S&P has confirmed Kazakhstan's credit rating at "BBB-" ("stable" outlook). The economist writes that S&P believes that Kazakhstan has good buffers. On March 1, 2024, the international rating agency S&P Global Ratings confirmed Kazakhstan's long-term sovereign credit rating at BBB- and short-term sovereign credit rating at A-3. In other words, the outlook remains stable. 

S&P believes that the assessment of transfer and convertibility (T&C) remains at the "BBB" level.  Meanwhile, they have confirmed the rating of Kazakhstan on the national scale as "kzAAA". The stable outlook on Kazakhstan's long-term BBB- rating reflects the risks associated with weak growth and high external financing needs. They, however, are mitigated by planned reforms in management and economics in tandem with strong asset buffers.

The National Fund As a Guarantee

The buffers are crucial, according to Rysmambetov: 

Our good gold and foreign exchange reserves and the National Fund are extremely important for the confidence of foreign investors. We will always be a little lost before foreign investors, as long as we have priority for foreign investors, not Kazakhstani ones. But for foreigners, there is a certain guarantee that if they are affected in Kazakhstan by the actions of government agencies, then there is always the opportunity to go to an international court and nip at the National Fund, one of the security buffers. And there are two types of local investors: we believe in the investment climate of our country, we are local, but we cannot get the same treatment as foreigners, we know the investment climate of our country, so we buy real estate in the UAE,
Rysmambetov said. 

Original Author: Nikolay Halabuzar

DISCLAIMER: This is a translated piece. The text has been modified, the content is the same. Please refer to the original piece in Russian for accuracy.