President instructs to propose solution of mortgage borrowers problems
During the meeting he was reported on the results of the National Bank activities for the year of 2016 and the plans for the forthcoming period.
The meeting was also attended by Aide to the President for socioeconomic issues Alikhan Smailov, Chairman of the National Bank Daniyar Akishev, National Economy Minister Timur Suleimenov, Finance Minister Bakhyt Sultanov and National Bank Chairman Deputies.
Nursultan Nazarbayev noted on general stability of the National Bank and the financial system of the country under global economic slump.
"The Address ‘The 3rd Modernization of Kazakhstan: Global Competitiveness' imposes a goal before the Government and the National Bank to enter the top 30 of world's developed countries. For that purpose it is necessary to follow successful examples of some countries, e.g. South Korea in particular. However, the gradual inflation decline should be at the level of 3-4 percent", the President said.
The Head of the State emphasized on the existing systemic risks in the financial sector threatening its stability and highlighted the inadequate pace of national economy development.
"To solve this issue it is necessary to take a set of measures aimed at macroeconomic stability, rehabilitation of the banking sector and stock market development. The National Bank plays a crucial role in implementing the assigned goals", Nazarbayev noticed.
According to Daniyar Akishev, the results of 2016 show decline in inflation from 13.6pct down to 8.5pct. In this March the figure was 7.7pct.
"By the end of 2017 we expect inflation to be at the level of 7pct with further decline in 2018. The inflation rates are slowing down. The exchange rate fluctuations are insignificant. Meanwhile, it fully responds to the fundamental factor. It is worthwhile noting that the National Bank has not intervened in the foreign exchange market since September last year, the Chairman of the National Bank noted.
Kazakh President was informed on the record inflow of foreign investments amounted to $14bn and the decline in the external debt of the country.
Akishev reported to the President on the reserves of the National Bank and the National Fund, monetary policy implementation, foreign exchange market condition, development of the banking sector and the stock market, the activity of the Integrated Accumulative Pension Fund, banking services digitization and new challenges in this area.
"It is necessary to speed up the process of extensive measures on rehabilitation of the country's banking sector. If required, the shareholders must substantially increase the capital of their banks. They must also be focused on consolidating the weak banks", Nazarbayev said.
Noting the importance of increasing the financial accountability of citizens the President of Kazakhstan gave prominence to implementation of the program of troubled mortgage loans refinancing.
In conclusion, the Head of State approved of Akishev's report and gave several specific instructions.
"I instruct the Government and the National Bank to formulate coordinated actions for solving the previous goals; to elaborate a clear action plan for various exchange rate scenarios upon the past domestic and international experience; to formulate measures on boosting the time deposits so that to increase long-term lending to the economy; to intensify the efforts for stock market development and make proposals on solving the problems of foreign currency loaners and mortgage borrowers", Nursultan Nazarbayev said.