Kazakhstan Economic Update, Summer 2020 : Navigating the Crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world economy upside down. As recently as January 2020, analysts and various institutions projected that, this year, the global economy would haverecovered from the lowest growth since post-global financial cris...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2020
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/155811595364689964/Kazakhstan-Economic-Update-Navigating-the-Crisis http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34221 |
| Summary: | The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the
world economy upside down. As recently as January 2020,
analysts and various institutions projected that, this year,
the global economy would haverecovered from the lowest
growth since post-global financial crisis. But instead,
developed and developing countries are fighting against the
fallout from the pandemic. The global economy entereda
serious recession in February, and global commodity prices
tumbled. The earlier failure of OPEC and its allies to agree
on a production cut amplified the impact of weakening global
demand onoil exporters like Kazakhstan. Weaker activity,
travel restrictions, and reduced mobility are projected to
reduce global demand for oil by 9 percent in 2020. The
pandemic, the economic slump,and the stress on the corporate
and financial sectors are mutually dependent, and the longer
the crisis, the more destructive is the impact on human
suffering. The Kazakh government acted early to contain the
spread of COVID-19. Following the announcement of a state of
emergency, a state commission was set up to coordinate the
efforts to fight the pandemic, impose quarantine control,and
provide support to those whose livelihood was affected by
the coronavirus or by the emergency restrictions. The
authorities implemented a fiscal package to provide support
to firms and households affected by the crisis. This
effective approach to control the pandemic and improve
access to health services should be continued and
strengthened. But deployment of resources and reforms are
also needed for Kazakhstan to navigate out of the crisis.
The authorities may want toredeploy some resources from
state programs toward improving access to and quality of
education and healthcare, and for temporarily supporting
workers and employers. Having a medium-termreform program
can also help leverage resources from the private sector and
better enable it to adjust and respond to new opportunities.
The Kazakhstan Economic Update (KEU) is a semiannual report
analyzing recent economic developments, prospects, and
policy issues in Kazakhstan. The report draws on available
data reported by the government, the National Bank of
Kazakhstan (NBK), and additional information collected as
part of the World Bank Group’s regular economic monitoring. |
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