Kazakhstan Finance Ministry reports 4.1% GDP growth, 27.7 trillion tenge budget in H1 2026

September 2, 2026 at 03:40 PM2 min

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Kazakhstan's Finance Ministry reported 4.1% GDP growth for the first half of 2026, with the republican budget executed at 27.7 trillion tenge, or 15.1% of GDP. Pensions, benefits, and subsidies were paid without a single day of delay, while wage arrears at 85 enterprises reached 1.8 billion tenge as of July 1.

Key Facts

Kazakhstan's GDP grew 4.1% in the first half of 2026, according to the Finance Ministry.
The republican budget for 2026 has expenditures of 27.7 trillion tenge, equivalent to 15.1% of GDP.
As of July 1, 2026, wage arrears reached 1.8 billion tenge across 85 enterprises.
The average total pension was 197,500 tenge as of July 1, 2026, including a solidarity pension of 103,500 tenge.
In 2026, 4,857.5 billion tenge will be allocated for pension provision for 2.58 million citizens.

Budget Execution

The republican budget is being executed in a regular mode with expenditures of 27.7 trillion tenge, or 15.1% of GDP. Under the new Budget Code, the state plans to gradually reduce the budget deficit to 2.5% of GDP by the end of 2026 and to 0.9% by 2028. As of July 1, the National Fund's foreign currency assets grew by 2% to $65.1 billion. The guaranteed transfer to the budget remains at 2,770 billion tenge with an oil cutoff price of $41.4 per barrel. Public debt stands at 25.3% of GDP, or 46.5 trillion tenge, which the ministry considers within the safe zone.

Wage Arrears

As of July 1, 2026, total wage arrears reached 1.8 billion tenge at 85 enterprises. Current and overdue debt amounts to 515 million tenge owed to 618 workers at 37 enterprises. The largest debts were recorded in Almaty region at 151.0 million tenge, Turkestan region at 101.2 million tenge, and Zhambyl region at 59.8 million tenge. Bankrupt enterprises owe 1.3 billion tenge to 1,500 workers, with East Kazakhstan region accounting for 344.6 million tenge of such debts. In the first half of 2026, social tension at enterprises led to four local strikes in Mangystau region, all of which were resolved.

Pension Indexation

From January 1, 2026, solidarity and basic pensions were indexed by 10%. The maximum basic pension increased from 110% to 118% of the subsistence minimum. As of July 1, the average total pension was 197,500 tenge, comprising a solidarity payment of 103,500 tenge, a basic payment of 54,100 tenge, and ENPF payments of 40,000 tenge. The minimum total pension was 104,600 tenge and the maximum was 238,400 tenge. In 2026, 4,857.5 billion tenge will be directed to pension provision for 2.58 million citizens.