The efficiency of tax and customs audits has increased in Kazakhstan by 3.2 and seven times respectively. The improvement of these types of management allowed to increase revenues to the state budget by 42 percent last year alone, which means the execution of the government’s plan by 103 percent. Kazakh Minister of Finance Yerulan Zhamaubayev presented the Government’s report on the execution of the state budget for the last year at the Mazhilis, a lower house of the Kazakh Parliament. According to him, in 2022, the state funds were allocated to 56 strategic areas, including the construction of over 15 million square meters of housing, 247 new schools, and 35 healthcare facilities. Overall, the Kazakh government has fulfilled all social obligations, according to the Minister.
“There was gradual economic growth and a revival of business activity in 2022 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The main factors of the 3.3 percent GDP growth were the increase in the services and real sectors, the strengthening of the trade balance due to high export growth rates, and high investment activity in construction and services production. Amid the global trend of rising food and commodity prices, the inflation rate in Kazakhstan exceeded the target and amounted to 20.3 percent. Investment in fixed assets increased by 7.9 percent, while unemployment was maintained at 4.9 percent,” said Yerulan Zhamaubayev, Kazakh Minister of Finance.
Chairperson of the Supreme Audit Chamber Natalya Godunova made an expert conclusion on the Government’s report at the plenary session of the Mazhilis. According to her, an audit of the loans received by quasi-public companies will be conducted this year. The inspections will also take place in all the units of the Social Health Insurance Fund at the end of this year. The results of the audit will be announced in June 2024.
“The Supreme Audit Chamber will launch a comprehensive audit of all 20 regional units of the Social Health Insurance Fund on the instructions of the Head of State at the end of the year. Taking into account the high social importance of this issue, I would like to ask you to provide us with a list of the most pressing issues that you think should be highlighted in the course of this audit,” said Natalya Godunova, Chairperson of Kazakhstan’s Supreme Audit Chamber.
