FEAS Yearbook FEAS Yearbook 2014 | Page 60

FEDERATION OF EURO-ASIAN STOCK EXCHANGES ANNUAL REPORT JUNE 2013 KAZAKHSTAN STOCK EXCHANGE In addition, KASE will continue upgrading existing trading and post-trading systems aimed at creation of technical framework for introduction of new instruments and ensuring easy and efficient access to the market. KASE will implement projects on improvement of Trading System’s user certification, risk minimization, improvement of market surveillance system. Next year KASE plans to introduce new trading platform - NEXT. Trading in two new instruments - currency pair CNY/KZT and “long” currency swaps - will be launched by the end of 2014. Other plans also include establishment of KASE call center to address issues of its clients in a timely manner. CAPITAL MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC OUTLOOK Development of the Kazakhstan’s securities market is one of the major objectives of the government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which recognizes the importance of developed capital market and its impact on overall economic growth of the country and on ensuring financial stability, improving financial sector sustainability and encouraging investment inflows. Compared to its CIS counterparts, Kazakhstan’s securities market ranks second after Russia by trade turnover. However, due to certain weaknesses it is still at the development stage and has a potential for growth. In January 2013 the Integrated Securities Registrar was created. The Integrated Securities Registrar is mainly aimed to minimize risks of the issuers and securities holders. The Integrated Securities Registrar allows the regulator to maintain the control function more effectively. With the introduction of the amendments to the Pension System Law in June 2013, the state-owned Unified Accumulative Pension Fund started accumulating required pension contributions, voluntary pension contributions and making retirement savings’ payout. Previously, these functions were carried out by private pension funds, major institutional investors on KASE bonds market. In September 2013 Kazakhstan Government has established the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan with the aim to protect entrepreneurs’ rights and interests, support local production enterprises, and attract investments. The oil extraction on Kashagan field has started in September 2013. The estimated reserves of the field are 35 billion barrels of oil and it is one of the largest oil fields in North Caspian Sea. Economic Performance 2013 was a quite positive year for Kazakhstan in terms of economic performance. The GDP growth was 6.0 % in 2013, which is higher than the forecasted growth of 5.5 % by International Monetary Fund. The unemployment rate has decreased to 5.2 % in December 2013 from 5.4 % in January 2013. Net international reserves amounted to USD 24.0 bn. The inflation rate was 4.8 %, the historic minimum in the last 15 years. Current account balance (% GDP) amounted to 4.0 %. Kazakhstan is number one in terms of foreign currency rating among CIS countries. In November, 2013 Fitch increased the ratings of the Republic of Kazakhstan: the long-term ratings of obligations in foreign currency from “BBB” to “BBB+” with “stable” outlook, those in the national currency - from “BBB+” to “A-”. S&P rating on Kazakhstan remained same at “BBB+/A-2”’; outlook stable. Key Information Contacts Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan www.minfin.kz National Bank of Kazakhstan www.nationalbank.kz Committees of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Financial Market and Financial Organizations Regulation and Supervision www.afn.kz Financial Institutions’ Association of Kazakhstan www.afk.kz/eng/ Central Securities Depository www.csd.kz CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Name Ms. Amina Turgulova PAGE 60 E-mail [email protected] Website www.kase.kz