Kazakhstan : Recent Economic Developments

This paper reviews economic developments in Kazakhstan during 1994–96. In early 1994, Kazakhstan embarked on an ambitious stabilization program aimed at reducing inflation sharply and implementing structural reforms. This program was based on tight financial policies and a package of structural measures, including privatization and trade and price liberalization; it was supported by a one-year stand-by arrangement from the IMF, approved in January 1994. However, the stabilization effort was quickly derailed by the authorities' inter-enterprise arrears netting operation that began in February 1994.