At the Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov on the development of the economic block, based on the tasks set by the Head of State in his message "Fair Kazakhstan: law and order, economic growth, social optimism", reported the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of National Economy Nurlan Baibazarov, primeminister.kz reports.
Thus, work will continue in the following areas:
- Improving the effectiveness of budget policy;
- Improvement of tax legislation;
- Strengthening of investment attractiveness;
- Development of entrepreneurship.
By the end of this year, the draft of the new Budget Code is expected to be adopted. More effective measures will be taken to limit and tightly control appropriations, and a rational compensation mechanism will be developed to find sources to cover the budget deficit. It is planned to further improve the ‘liquidity management’ tool for withdrawing free cash from local budgets and quasi-public sector entities. This work will be carried out within the framework of the discussion of the draft code within the walls of Parliament.
To ensure stability of the parameters of state finances, the Government will maintain consistency in the application of budgetary rules and medium-term targets. In order to increase revenue receipts, measures will be taken to increase tax yield through improved tax administration, digitalisation, reduction of shadow economy, increase of taxable base, reduction of inefficient benefits," the Minister said.
In order to use the resources of the National Fund to achieve strategic goals, the new Budget Code provides for the use of targeted transfers only to finance critical facilities and projects of national importance. A mechanism of expertise of projects planned to be financed on non-market terms will be developed. It will apply to bonded loans. Meetings of the National Fund Management Council will be held in person only. In general, ensuring the balance of state finances will be carried out by a set of measures, including through the consolidation of liabilities, assets and all cash flows of the state.
The Head of State has set a number of tasks on fiscal policy that need to be solved, including within the framework of the draft Tax Code. His draft proposes the application of compulsory collection measures depending on the size of the debt. Scheduled tax audits are also excluded. Provision is made for granting a deferment/extension of time in the presence of debt in the amount of about 5 million tenge," Nurlan Baibazarov emphasised.
In order to develop proposals to eliminate ambiguities, inaccuracies and contradictions that may arise during the execution of tax obligations in the draft Tax Code provides for the establishment of the Methodological Council on taxation. The draft excludes a part of ineffective tax exemptions and will provide for reflection of all granted exemptions in tax reporting. A reduced corporate income tax rate of 10% for exporters of high value-added products is also envisaged. Besides, 5 motorway checkpoints will be put into operation by the end of this year, the remaining 4 ones in the next year.
In implementation of the Head of State's instructions on fiscal policy, the following issues will be further elaborated:
- establishment of differentiated rates of individual income tax;
- fair additional taxation of dividends from shareholders of the banking sector;
- increasing the effectiveness of tax incentives;
- optimisation of tax regimes without worsening favourable conditions for entrepreneurs;
- total digitalisation of tax administration, abandoning its punitive approach;
- introduction of a VAT administration mechanism using a digital tender.
The new Tax Code is proposed to be adopted by July 2025 with implementation from 1 January 2026. This will provide an opportunity to conduct active explanatory work, develop by-laws and prepare information systems of the State Revenue Committee.
In order to improve the investment attraction ecosystem, work is being done to regulate the "investor's path", as well as to define the roles of all government agencies in this process: foreign agencies - central government agencies - local executive bodies. Full support will be provided for the investment cycle from investor search to project completion, including overcoming bureaucratic barriers and assistance from the quasi-public sector.
By analogy with the Investment Headquarters, Regional Investment Headquarters will be established in each region under the leadership of akims, which will include heads of MIO, regional representatives of Kazakh Invest, NPP "Atameken", FEZ and IZ, prosecutor's office, tax authorities. This will make it possible to promptly solve investors' problems on the ground on a "here and now" basis. This approach will be reflected in the updated Investment Policy Concept until 2029. At the same time, for targeted work on attracting investments, ‘orders for investments’ will be formed on the basis of Regional Investment Programmes, taking into account the needs and competitive advantages of regions and local businesses," the speaker stressed.
In order to improve the quality of planning and implementation of PPP projects, the issue of creation of funds for preparation of such projects with international financial organisations is being worked out. The issue of forming a pool of large-scale turnkey PPP projects will be comprehensively considered in conjunction with the implementation of the National Infrastructure Plan until 2029. Separate PPP regulations and rules will be formed for the healthcare and education sectors. In particular, PPP approaches to the creation of medical facilities and secondary education organisations will provide for measures with reimbursement of investor's costs at the expense of per capita payments (for each pupil/patient). Also for typical projects, for which it is possible to simplify and systematise the planning process, the application of "Programme PPP" will continue.
The Head of State has set a task to increase the share of medium-sized businesses in the economy to 15 per cent by 2029. Today, work is underway to create conditions for the development of medium-sized businesses through the transformation of state incentives. The more competitive an enterprise is, the more support measures it can receive. The necessary methodological base has been prepared, where support measures are differentiated depending on the category and level of competitiveness of the business. One of the tools for growth will be a special agreement for the most competitive SMEs, which will be provided with service support and the necessary set of state support," the Deputy Prime Minister explained.
At the moment, work is underway to form a digital Register of state support measures, their standardisation and provision on the principle of "single window". With the assistance of Atameken NCE, amendments to the legislation will be adopted to stimulate SMEs to growth, including the introduction of package solutions. Work is also underway to create a one-stop shop - an entrepreneur's personal account on the basis of E-gov Business with the possibility of automating procedures for receiving state support measures.
To reduce the pressure of controlling bodies on business, a ban on the regulation of business inspections by sectoral laws will be introduced.
The above measures will ensure the formation of competitive small and strong medium-sized businesses, contributing to the growth of the national economy," Nurlan Baibazarov summarised.
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