Kazakh ministries see their budgets cut

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Kazakhstan ©Marat Abilov

Out of all the state bodies in Kazakhstan, Internal Affairs Ministry is feeling the effects of the budget cuts the most, Tengrinews reports citing Senator Yertargyn Astayev, who spoke at the briefing in the Central Communications Service's headquarters in Astana on March 27.

"If you are looking at the cost reduction structure, the largest decrease in the total cuts of 686.6 billion tenge ($3.7 billion) falls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It's share of cuts amounts to about 41.8 billion tenge ($226 million). Then comes the Ministry of National Economy with a decrease of 15.8 billion ($85 million)," Astayev said.

According to the Senator, the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan saw cuts equaling 13.6 billion tenge ($73 million), and the Ministry of Finance - 6.7 billion tenge ($36 million).

Budget cuts were announced by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Akorda on February 11.

"We will have austerity measures throughout the economy where possible and optimize the budget expenditures. Let’s put off new initiatives until things go better. This applies to state agencies, local government offices, and national companies. I instruct the government to reduce the expenditures of the 2015 state budget by 700 billion tenge, which is by 10 percent of the total expenditures. This cut should in no way affect the social commitments of the state to the people," he said.

Reporting by Altynai Zhumzhumina, writing by Dinara Urazova

Out of all the state bodies in Kazakhstan, Internal Affairs Ministry is feeling the effects of the budget cuts the most, Tengrinews reports citing Senator Yertargyn Astayev, who spoke at the briefing in the Central Communications Service's headquarters in Astana on March 27.

"If you are looking at the cost reduction structure, the largest decrease in the total cuts of 686.6 billion tenge ($3.7 billion) falls on the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It's share of cuts amounts to about 41.8 billion tenge ($226 million). Then comes the Ministry of National Economy with a decrease of 15.8 billion ($85 million)," Astayev said.

According to the Senator, the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan saw cuts equaling 13.6 billion tenge ($73 million), and the Ministry of Finance - 6.7 billion tenge ($36 million).

Budget cuts were announced by President Nursultan Nazarbayev in Akorda on February 11.

"We will have austerity measures throughout the economy where possible and optimize the budget expenditures. Let’s put off new initiatives until things go better. This applies to state agencies, local government offices, and national companies. I instruct the government to reduce the expenditures of the 2015 state budget by 700 billion tenge, which is by 10 percent of the total expenditures. This cut should in no way affect the social commitments of the state to the people," he said.

Reporting by Altynai Zhumzhumina, writing by Dinara Urazova

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