OREANDA-NEWS. January 19, 2009. At a Government’s sitting Kazakhstan’s Minister of Labor and Social Protection Berdibek Saparbayev reported to the government on the current state of the labor market: as of January 1, 2009, 25 enterprises employing over 7000 people have suspended their operations, reported the Official website http://en.government.kz.

A special working group has been set up to retrain the employees made redundant and create temporary jobs. To protect the domestic labor market, the quota of imported workforce has been reduced twice as compared to 2008.

As was announced, Kazakhstan’s Government, the national Bank and the Agency for Financial Supervision are expected to issue a joint statement on economic and monetary policy. The Government has adopted an Action Plan to implement the joint program [of the Government, the National Bank and the Agency for Financial Supervision] to stabilize the economy in 2009-2010. However, Prime Minister Karim Massimov does not rule out amendments into the Program depending on developments at the global markets.

At the sitting the Prime Minister commissioned the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund to coordinate efforts under the anti-crisis program with the mayors of Astana and Almaty. According to the PM, “[in terms of support to financial sector, real estate market and S&MBs] a lion’s share of measures of the anti-crisis program will be taken in two major cities – Astana and Almaty”.

Kairat Kelimbetov, Head of the Samruk-Kazyna National Welfare Fund, announced that the parties involved are working out mechanisms for the Assets Stabilization Fund to buy out troubled mortgages. He reminded that the Fund had been established “to upgrade bank assets quality and allow banks to focus on lending rather than on attending to bad loans. The Fund’s work comprises 4 stages – evaluation of the banks’ assets, their acquisition, management and sales. The Fund is already in talks with banks. Its capital makes up KZT 52 billion”.

In its monetary policy for 2009-2010 the National Bank does not plan to take additional measures to curb inflation as there is no growing inflationary pressure expected, said Anvar Saidenov, Head of the National Bank.

“The major task of the National Bank will be further maintenance of the financial sector stability; this means a milder monetary policy… we will be further pursuing the policy of providing short-term liquidity to banks, will be considering expansion of the list of assets eligible as collateral, extension of unsecured loans to banks and depositing of National Bank’s funds with banks”, A. Saidenov said. He also added that the National Bank does not strive for augmenting the money supply.