National Fund: What Will Kazakhstan's Oil Money Be Spent on?

At a government meeting, Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov spoke about where the targeted additional transfer from the National Fund of Kazakhstan will be directed, Orda.kz reports.

The Minister stressed that the government did not conceal its plans to use additional National Fund transfers.

We have determined the amount (according to the Ministry of Finance - two trillion tenge). The Ministry of Finance has calculated all the expenses that the regions need to cover, to finance all obligations. Basically, this money will go to strengthening regional infrastructures, said Nurlan Baibazarov. 

Finance Minister Madi Takiyev clarified the amounts of transfers. 

There is a guaranteed transfer and there is a targeted one. Under the guaranteed transfer, we can use a maximum of 2 trillion 277 billion tenge from the National Fund this year. As for the targeted transfer, it has its own purpose, we have signed a protocol for these two trillion tenge, we have a presidential decree on the allocation of these funds. And now we are planning to go for a budget revision for 2025-2027, explained Madi Takiyev.

However, the National Bank head, Timur Suleimenov, warned at the government meeting that the National Fund's balance of receipts and withdrawals is currently in the red. 

Withdrawals exceed receipts. In these conditions, the only factor that supports the growth of the National Fund is investment income, which amounted to 10.27% or $6.16 billion in the first nine months of this year, noted Timur Suleimenov.

The National Bank Chair had previously expressed concerns about withdrawals from the National Fund. Timur Suleimenov stated that the withdrawal amount would decrease in the following years. In 2026–2027, the volume of transfers would amount to only two trillion tenge.

Experts from the International Monetary Fund also expressed concerns about using National Fund funds to cover Kazakhstan's budget deficit.

Original Author: Anastasia Prilepskaya