Toqayev Briefed on National Fund Status

President Qasym-Jomart Toqayev has received and reviewed the National Bank's annual report, which outlined the regulator's performance over the past year and the current state of the national economy, Orda.kz reports.

According to Aqorda, the president was briefed on a range of issues, including the macroeconomic situation, monetary policy outcomes, the condition of the financial system, international reserves, and the current status of both the National Fund and the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund (ENPF).

The meeting covered the following key areas:

• Implementation of the republican budget
• Measures to curb inflation
• Monetary policy updates
• A draft of the new banking law
• Business lending support
• The state of gold and foreign currency reserves

Aqorda’s statement made no mention of any specific instructions being given to the National Bank leadership this time.

The President was likely informed that, since the start of the year, around 1.5 trillion tenge has already been withdrawn from the National Fund to support budget transfers, while the ENPF has decreased by 447 billion tenge. Economists have repeatedly warned that fulfilling Toqayev’s earlier directive to increase the National Fund's assets will be difficult at this rate.

Recently, there was even a proposal to merge the National Fund and ENPF with the Samruq-Qazyna fund to improve overall efficiency.

If Toqayev did issue instructions to the National Bank behind closed doors, the public will likely see signs of it soon, either through the regulator’s upcoming statements or through the next rate decision, scheduled for June 5.

Original Author: Nikita Drobny