Kazakhstan is concerned over possible widened economic sanctions against Russia

Kazakhstan is concerned over possible economic sanctions against Russia [because of that country's actions in Crimea] imposed by the West, a Tengrinews.kz journalist reports, citing the country’s Central Bank Governor Kairat Kelimbetov as saying today.

“We are concerned over possible sanctions against Russia, our major trade partner. Russian products are responsible for 36% of all Kazakhstan’s imports, with 7% of the Kazakhstan’s exports going to Russia”, Mr.Kelimbetov told a briefing at the President’s Service for Public Communications.

“We have witnessed a substantial capital outflow (…) Russia might face a zero economic growth this year. It’s no good news for us as the two economies are interdependent to a great extent. We are looking at ways to manage economic growth and inflation rate in Kazakhstan”, he said.

He emphasized that one of the key indicators to look at will be measures taken by the Russia’s Central Bank and the exchange rate of the Russia’s rouble against the bi-currency basket. “We will be closely monitoring the exchange rate of the Russia’s rouble (…) Kazakhstan’s national currency, the tenge, has been fluctuating at Tenge 182-184 per USD1 and we are upbeat about the country’s economy”.