Up to $10bn is expected be allocated from the Kazakh National Fund to stabilize the country’s economy in 2009-2010, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a government meeting in Astana on 13 October. He gave green light to the government to use this money for the economic stabilization programme and for taking “original decisions in this situation”. He added that the government and the National Bank were responsible for the state of the economy, the financial system and the social sphere. The National Fund has so far accumulated about $28bn in petrodollars. The Kazakh authorities pledged $4bn in 2007-2008 for reviving suspended construction projects and other areas of the economy. This money also came from the government coffers.

President Nazarbayev also called on the government to expedite the establishment of a problem assets fund. Its capitalization will be no less than $6bn , of which $1bn will be allocated from the central budget in 2008 and 2009. Earlier Kazakh Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev said that the government expected the problem assets fund to attract about $5bn of private investment on top of the budget funds. However, it is doubtful whether the government will be able to attract this investment. The fund is supposed to buy out long-term loans secured by property.