Kazakhstan will reduce volume of external drawings in 2000 - President

/IRBIS, Dec.3, 99/ - REUTERS informs, with the reference to Nursultan Nazarbaev, that Kazakhstan is going to continue cautious policy of external drawings, and at the same time, will support cooperation with international financial organizations. He added the government would try to shrink the budget deficit and would take a "strict" attitude to drawings. "All questions, which was posed by IMF, were completely settled by Kazakhstan and program of drawings for three years will be approved in next few days, and we'll begin to receive an appropriate financing this year already", said Nazarbaev. Earlier, he mentioned Kazakhstan could get $175 millions from the World bank after an approval of three-year financing program by IMF. The president also said Kazakhstan would continue to create favorable investment climate to attract foreign investments into the national economy. Last year Kazakhstan received $1,132 billion in direct foreign investments, and this year $960 million is expected. He said he believed the scandal with the shipment of Kazakhstani war planes MIG-21 to North Korea will not affect investment image of the country. For the first time Kazakhstan was suspected in shipment of planes to North Korea in spring of this year. Azerbaijan special services seized the cargo plane with MIGs abroad. At that time, Kazakhstan denied the shipments have been bound to Pyongyang. Last summer the defense minister and the head of the national security commission were fired for "violation of military equipment sales procedures". Astana denied it knew nothing about selling 40 planes to North Korea for $8 millions by a "group of private persons".