KASE releases on own website review of business activity index in Kazakhstan for April 2023

04.05.23 18:03
/KASE, May 4, 2023/ – Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) has published on its website a review of the Index of Business Activity in Kazakhstan (BAI) for April 2023, which was prepared by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan based on the results of a monthly survey of enterprises and includes a set of enterprises' answers to questions regarding actual changes in economic indicators of enterprises and expectations regarding their change in the future. The BAI is an indicator that characterizes the state of the economy in the real sector, allows you to explore the dynamics of economic trends, critical and turning points of the business cycle. Below are comments of Rustem Orazalin, Director of the Monetary Policy Department of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan: "In April, despite a slight slowdown, business activity remained in the positive zone, amounting to 51.2 (in March – 51.6). The dynamics of the indicator was influenced by the change in the index in production. In this sector, due to a decrease in the volume of inventories, the index moved into the negative zone, amounting to 49.6 (in March – 52.9). In construction, the indicator also deteriorated, here business activity slowed down to 50.4 (from 53.3 in March), but the index remained in the growth zone. The service sector recorded a slight improvement in the indicator (from 51.7 in March to 52.0). In the mining industry, the indicator improved to 49.8 (from 48.6 in March), although it still remains in the negative area. Long delivery times remain a constraint on business activity across all sectors. The business climate index remained positive despite a slight decline in current and future business conditions. The decrease in the index was noted in all sectors except services. As a result, the business climate index, which is an average assessment of current and future business conditions, amounted to 14.3 (in March 2023 – 16.5), and remained in the growth area of business cycle hours. IDA reviews for April 2023 are available at: - https://kase.kz/kz/ida/ – in Kazakh; - https://kase.kz/ru/ida/ – in Russian; - https://kase.kz/en/ida/ – in English. [2023-05-04]