Page 9 - Kazakh Outlook 2023

discussing introducing import-substitution for food, but covering all
internal demand might not be possible at the rapid rate required to stem
inflation.

Following a series of interest rate hikes in 2022, the National Bank of
Kazakhstan on December 5 raised its benchmark interest rate by
another 75 basis points to 16.75% citing continuously spiralling inflation,
high food prices and geopolitical uncertainty.

Yet the central bank claimed that it has approached the end of its
rate-raising cycle.

The regulator noted that it might continue to keep the base rate at its
current value for an extended period, as it believed the latest rate hike
would help reduce inflation over the “medium term”. Such predictions
seem over-ambitious given the current inflationary pressures.

9 Kazakhstan Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com