WIIW The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies - Wiener Institut für Internationale Wirtschaftsvergleiche

In Kazakhstan real GDP will grow by 5% to 6.5% over the period 2013-2015, in particular owing to the increase in oil production with the start of operations in the Kashagan oil field. The country will thus assume the lead in terms of economic growth in the region covered by our analysis. While the banking system continues to struggle with high non-performing loans, the government has decided to reduce significantly its support to the finance sector. At the same time, the government plans to change drastically the landscape of the pension funds sector by nationalising existing private pension funds and merging their assets into one state pension fund, constituting the mandatory pension pillar.