23 October 2018, 12:27
October 23 in Ukimet Uyi, Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev chaired a regular meeting of the Council for Economic Policy.
The issues of the effectiveness of subsidies and concessional lending to the subjects of the agro-industrial complex of the country were addressed at the meeting.
In the Address to the people of Kazakhstan “Growing Welfare of Kazakh Citizens: Increase in Incomes and Quality of Life,” the Head of State instructed the Government in the next three years to allocate additional at least 100 billion tenge annually to support the agro-industrial complex.
The keynote address at the meeting was made by the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Agriculture Umirzak Shukeyev. According to him, first of all, these funds are proposed to be sent to stimulate the introduction of modern technologies in the industry and the renewal of agricultural equipment, as well as accelerate breeding transformation in animal husbandry. It is possible to accomplish the assigned tasks by increasing the availability of financing for agribusiness entities, including by increasing the volume of investment subsidies, cheapening and expanding the availability of bank loans, both for negotiable and for investment purposes.
The ministers of national economy Timur Suleimenov, finances — Alikhan Smailov, for investments and development — Zhenis Kassymbek and others took part in the discussion of the issue.
The annual volume of subsidies (2015 — 180.8 billion tenge, 2016 — 220.7 billion tenge, 2017 — 260.5 billion tenge, 2018 — 227.6 billion tenge), on average is no more than 4-5% of the gross agricultural output households, which is below the acceptable level of 8.5% in the WTO. In order to increase the availability of financing for the AIC, work is underway to improve existing and introduce new financial instruments. In 2018, subsidies for interest rates on loans for fixed assets, as well as leasing of agricultural equipment, were resumed.
To accomplish the objectives, a package of amendments to the legislative acts, which are currently under consideration in the Mazhilis of the Parliament, has been formed.
Also, in accordance with the instructions of the Head of State to improve the effectiveness of state support, ineffective subsidies are being reduced and will soon be completely excluded. The rest will be maximally simplified and fully automated by the end of the year. This will reduce the time for consideration of applications by an average of 2.5 times (from 18 to 7 days) and reduce corruption risks. As a result of the reform, out of 54 types of subsidies, 34 will remain.
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