Support The Moscow Times!

Kazakhstan Trims 2013 Budget

Kazakhstan's parliament voted on Thursday to trim spending and widen the fiscal gap of the 2013 state budget after lower prices for Kazakh metals and other mining exports dented revenues.

The Senate upper chamber of the legislature approved revised revenues of 5.228 trillion tenge ($34.5 billion), cutting the originally set income by 206.7 billion tenge ($1.37 billion).

Lower budget revenues are due mainly to smaller corporate income taxes, hit by lower world prices for Kazakh metals and other raw material exports, the Finance Ministry said.

The government plans to partially offset losses in revenues by higher oil export duties. These duties were hiked to $60 per ton from $40 per ton in April.

Outgoings were cut by 121.3 billion tenge to 6.009 trillion tenge "by optimizing spending," the Finance Ministry said in the draft budget law put to vote. It gave no details.

(Reuters)

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter

Our weekly newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of news, features, analysis and more from The Moscow Times. You will receive it in your mailbox every Friday. Never miss the latest news from Russia. Preview
Subscribers agree to the Privacy Policy

A Message from The Moscow Times:

Dear readers,

We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."

These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.

We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.

Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.

By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Once
Monthly
Annual
Continue
paiment methods
Not ready to support today?
Remind me later.

Read more