President instructs to reduce national budget deficit to 1% by 2018

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - At the meeting on the system of economic policy measures President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev instructed to reduce the national budget deficit to 1% by 2018 noting that the funding deficit should be made only from domestic reserves, Akorda informed.

Kazakh President noted that in the previous years the country has built a lot of projects, it increased staffing and salary levels. However, there is a lack of funds; thus, the cost of new projects will be strictly limited. It is necessary to establish a moratorium on various initiatives until 2018, said Nursultan Nazarbayev. President Nazarbayev emphasized that the country should focus on supporting key sectors of the economy with a competitive advantage. "An important point to accomplish the task is to study the experience of countries that have passed similar path of development. This is the experience of Australia and Canada within the past 30 years. Kazakhstan has good opportunities for integration into the global supply chain of goods," said the Head of State. Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that the industrial and innovation policy should be adapted to the new conditions requiring the search of points of growth in the services sector.