Kazakhstan's H1 2012 GDP growth estimated at 5.6%

Kazakhstan’s GDP growth for January – June 2012 reached 5.6%, Newskaz.ru reports, citing Head of the State Agency for Statistics Alikhan Smailov as saying July 12. The national GDP is expected to grow by 7% in 2012, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev had stated when speaking at the V Astana Economic Forum May 23. International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its World Economic Outlook report forecasted that the 2012 Kazakhstan’s real GDP growth would make up 5.9%, reaching 6% in 2013. In October 2011 IMF had forecasted that the Kazakh economy would grow by 5.6% in 2012. In a joint statement of the Government and the Central Bank, the real GDP growth in 2012 was expected at 6-7%. Fitch Ratings estimates that Kazakhstan’s economy growth will make up 5% or over in 2012, according to the economist and sovereign analyst covering Russia and other CIS countries Charles Seville. “We estimate this year's national economy growth at 5%. It may be higher than that. However, processing industries are growing not that fast,” he said at the annual Fitch Ratings conference in Astana on May 15. According to the State Agency for Statistics, GDP growth in the Q1 2012 made up 5.6% as compared to the respective figure of 2011.