Central Asia has emerged as a key region where the convergence of geopolitics and development cooperation is most visible. Major powers are redefining their approaches: Japan combines official development assistance (ODA) with commercial partnerships to advance connectivity and reform; the EU is...

In August 2024, the IMF's CCAMTAC conducted a scoping mission at the request of the National Bank of Kazakhstan to enhance the forecasting capabilities of the Monetary Analysis Division. The mission evaluated the Division's current resources, tools, and data management practices, identifying...

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) remain a cornerstone of Kazakhstan’s economy and growth model. However, SOEs’ quasi-fiscal activities conducted outside the fiscal framework obscure the overall fiscal stance, complicating macroeconomic management. This paper finds that the balance sheet...

Kazakhstan’s economy is showing clear signs of overheating. After growing by around 5 percent in 2023 and 2024, the economy is expected to expand by 6.2 percent in 2025, fueled by rising oil production, a loose fiscal stance, expanding quasi-fiscal activities, and rapid consumer lending....

An IMF mission visited both Astana and Almaty during May - June 2024. This mission was a second engagement with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and National Payments Corporation of Kazakhstan (NPCK) following a virtual engagement during February - March 2024. Both phases sought to support...

An IMF mission visited both Astana and Almaty during May - June 2024. This mission was a second engagement with the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) and National Payments Corporation of Kazakhstan (NPCK) following a virtual engagement during February - March 2024. Both phases sought to support...

This study investigates how financial growth connects to regional environmental performance within the framework of policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions. It uses a comprehensive panel dataset covering the period from 2010 to 2024. Although Kazakhstan has set ambitious targets, significant...

The article studies the economic background and reasons for the protest actions of the population on the example of major riots in the regions of Kazakhstan in early 2022. The theory of relative deprivation explains the occurrence of unrest by the growth of social tension in groups of the...

In contrast to most Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) economies, Central Asia (CA) - comprising Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - has witnessed quite robust demographic as well as economic growth in the period from 2019 to 2024. This period was...

Central Asian economies, particularly Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, are pursuing increasingly ambitious goals for renewable energy. Apart from China - an established player in the market - it has increasingly been Gulf countries that have been implementing respective projects, particularly Saudi...

In grassland ecosystems, fire plays an important role in maintaining biodiversity and ecological functioning but also causes substantial greenhouse gas emissions. Both climate and herbivory are key determinants of fire regimes, yet the relative importance of these factors remains debated. We...

Unequal access to healthcare and inadequate financing have highlighted the need for healthcare reform to increase efficiency while ensuring equity in healthcare financing worldwide. Our study evaluates the capacity of Kazakhstan's healthcare system reform, transitioning from a tax-financed...

Based on rich cadastral data we examine the effects of three decades of land privatization on pasture productivity in southern Kazakhstan. We assemble a balanced panel of 16 thousand plots representing cadastral parcels on pastures over 24 years along with their date of ‘allocation’ (formal...

The rising demand for meat and animal products has strained land resources and created a livestock sector responsible for 20% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, linked to desertification, deforestation, water contamination, and biodiversity loss. Quantifying this strain remains difficult...

This study examines the development of the digital economy and society in the Republic of Kazakhstan by combining international benchmarking with a context-specific national framework. It highlights the limitations of existing global indices such as DESI, NRI, and EGDI in capturing the...

Innovation ecosystems use R&D inputs to generate innovation outputs first and innovation impacts later. But some countries show a relatively low transmission, such as in the case of Kazakhstan, the largest economy in Central Asia. This article analyzes the transmission from R&D into innovation...

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are an essential subject of economic activity in any country because, without their participation, the development and formation of the very structure of the economy are almost impossible. The role of SMEs is significant since these businesses allow for...

Kazakhstan is a major emitter of greenhouse gases and also highly vulnerable to climate change. This highlights the urgent need for coordinated efforts in climate mitigation and adaptation. In 2022, Kazakhstan's emissions reached 353.0 million tons of CO2 equivalent, with per capita emissions...

The Country Opinion Survey in Kazakhstan assists the World Bank Group (WBG) in better understanding how stakeholders in Kazakhstan perceive the WBG. It provides the WBG with systematic feedback from national and local governments, multilateral/bilateral agencies, media, academia, the private...

The mutual codependence between stock market development and the economic growth is empirically investigated in Kazakhstan. The study employs the Vector Autoregression technique (VAR) to test the relationship between economic growth (Industrial Production Index) and the stock market development...

As part of its efforts to secure access to critical raw materials (CRMs), the EU has concluded Strategic Partnerships on Raw Materials with 14 non-EU countries. These partnerships aim to diversify supply sources and to deepen ties with resource-rich countries, thereby strengthening the...

A technical assistance mission assisted the Bureau of National Statistics under the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan in developing quarterly national accounts. It did so by reviewing existing large statistical discrepancies between GDP by production and GDP...

Almaty Agglomeration is a large territory in Central Asia, located in a region with a sharply continental climate characterized by cold winters and dry summers. The area includes diverse ecological zones ranging from deserts to mountain meadows and forests, creating varied microclimates and...