Kazakhstan’s military prepare for duty at a road bloack outside Nur-Sultan//credit: Akorda
>> FORMER KAZAKH PRESIDENT NAZARBAYEV TESTS POSITIVE FOR THE CORONAVIRUS. OFFICIALS SAY THAT HE IS ASYMPTOMATIC (JUNE 18)
KAZAKHSTAN REIMPOSES LOCKDOWN FOR TWO WEEKS AFTER RISE IN CORONAVIRUS CASES (JULY 2)
>> EBRD SAYS KAZAKH ECONOMY WILL SHRINK BY 3% THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS AND A FALL IN OIL PRICES (MAY 13)
The numbers:
— As of July 6 Kazakhstan had recorded 188 deaths linked to COVID-19, the disease triggered by the coronavirus. It also said that it had 48,574 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Cases have surged since a lockdown was relaxed in mid-May.
Lockdown details:
– Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev lifted a state-of-emergency and a lockdown on May 11. Cafes, restaurants, shops and mosques were allowed to reopen but he reimposed a two-week lockdown from the beginning of June after cases surged.
— Kazakhstan’s international borders are still closed.
Economic impact:
— The EBRD said on May 13 that Kazakhstan’s economy would shrink by 3% this year because of the impact of the coronavirus and a fall in oil prices. It also said, though, that a fall in the value of the tenge may help its non-oil sector.
— The Kazakh tenge has lost around 15% of its value since the beginning of March because of the spread of the coronavirus and the collapse in oil prices. The Central Bank has said that it has spent $2.3b propping up its currency.
— Tengizchevroil, operator of the country’s biggest oil-producing field Tengiz said on April 14 that it was a suspending a $45b expansion project because some of its workers had contracted the coronavirus. By mid-May, this had risen to several hundred infections.
— Roughly 2.7m people in Kazakhstan have applied for a $100/month payment from the state, government officials said on April 16, emergency financial aid to help ease the implications of a lockdown triggered to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
— The government said that it would waive taxes for small and medium-sized companies until the end of the year. (May 12)
— Kazakhstan said it had delayed plans to IPO its biggest state companies, including oil and gas producer Kazmunaigas because of the spread of the coronavirus and the collapse in oil prices (June 10).
Other news:
– A team of Chinese doctors brought supplies to beat the spread of the coronavirus to Kazakhstan, the Global Times, a China-based newspaper reported (April 12). It also said that Chinese doctors are holding training sessions for their Kazakh counterparts.
— Berik Uali, the spokesperson for Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was hospitalised with the coronavirus (June 7). Officials said that Tokayev is regularly tested for the coronavirus.
— Nursultan Nazarbayev, 80-year-old former president and the Leader of the Nation, has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Officials said that he is asymptomatic but he has not been seen in public since his diagnosis (June 18).