Oil- and gas-exporting countries in Central Asia should take advantage of growth of around 5.5 percent this year and next to invest in developing other industries, the IMF said on Monday. The region is currently shielded from a global slowdown by high commodity prices and moderate exposure to Europe, a senior official said. The IMF backed investment in health, education and infrastructure but advised Kazakhstan and other countries in the former Soviet region to spend wisely to avoid overheating and to develop a tax base that is less reliant on energy.
"There's a temptation to spend a lot. While this is welcome, it's important to keep in mind not all of the oil wealth can be spent while it's being earned," said Juha Kahkonen, deputy director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia department. In its latest Caucasus and Central Asia report, the International Monetary Fund forecast economic growth for the region's four energy exporters - Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - would slow to about 5.5 percent this year from 7 percent in 2011.
Kazakhstan's economy, the largest in Central Asia, expanded by 5.2 percent year-on-year in January-September compared with 7 percent growth a year earlier, official data show. The government forecasts 5.4 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the full year. Kazakhstan is the largest ex-Soviet oil producer after Russia, as well as the world's No 1 uranium miner and a major exporter of grain and industrial metals.
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