In November, Kazakhstan's National Fund grew by 2.27 trillion tenge ($4.3 billion), according to statistics from the Ministry of Finance. At the beginning of November, the fund stood at 30.9 trillion tenge, increasing to 33.2 trillion tenge ($62.7 billion) by the month's end, Kursiv.kz reports.
Over the first 11 months of 2024, the fund received 8.7 trillion tenge, with 2.9 trillion tenge collected in November alone (a monthly increase of 50%). Of this, tax revenues from the oil sector accounted for 3.6 trillion tenge (including a 463 billion tenge increase in November), while investment income totaled 4.98 trillion tenge.
In November, the primary source of growth was investment income. While reports from November 1 indicated 2.5 trillion tenge in investment income for the first half of the year, by December 1, this had nearly doubled to 4.98 trillion tenge for nine months - a 96% increase.
The growth in the fund occurred amid a strengthening U.S. dollar. As the National Fund's assets are held in dollars, the tenge's depreciation by 5% in November (to 512 tenge per USD) boosted fund values.
Withdrawals from the National Fund reached 5.3 trillion tenge by December 1, up from 4.6 trillion tenge a month earlier (a 638 billion tenge increase). This rise was due to targeted transfers, which amounted to 3.29 trillion tenge over 11 months, nearing the annual plan of 3.6 trillion tenge.
In October, Kazakhstan's National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov noted that fund withdrawals outpaced contributions, with investment returns being the sole factor supporting growth. Compared to 2023, contributions have declined: tax revenues amounted to 4.3 trillion tenge in the first 11 months of last year, while investment income reached 6.2 trillion tenge.
CentralasianLIGHT.org,
December 4, 2024