S&P Global Ratings Affirms Kazakhstan's Credit Rating
(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, September 5. S&P Global
Ratings has affirmed Kazakhstan's credit rating at BBB- with a
stable outlook, Trend reports, citing Halyk Finance.
According to S&P, the country's oil and gas sector, which
accounts for 20 percent of GDP, more than half of exports, and 30
percent of government revenues, continues to play an important role
in maintaining the positive rating.
At the same time, the rating agency notes that the decline in
oil production has had a negative impact on economic growth rates
and has led to their moderate forecast for GDP growth at the end of
the current year at 3.7 percent. The rating agency expects moderate
economic growth rates not only in the current year but also in the
next three.
As the rating agency noted, even the launch of the future
expansion project of the Tengiz field in the second half of 2025,
which should increase oil production volumes from 90 million tons
in 2023 to 98 million tons in 2025, will not lead, according to
S&P, to economic growth above 4.5 percent. Thus, the average
GDP growth rate in 2025-2027 will be 3.7 percent per year.
In S&P view, the oil sector remains both the main source of
economic growth and the main source of its vulnerabilities. The
rating agency notes the high dependence of the transportation of
exported oil on geopolitical factors, since 80 percent of exported
oil passes through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium in Russia.
S&P Global Ratings notes that the current rating could be
improved if reforms are implemented, non-oil sector growth rates
increase, geopolitical risks decrease, and political stability
increases.
Furthermore, Kazakhstan's economic growth amounted to 5.1
percent in 2023. Last year, the volume of investments in fixed
capital increased by 13.7 percent and amounted to $39.5 billion,
while over the first nine months of 2023, $19.7 billion of foreign
direct investment was attracted.
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