World Bank called 2012-2022 a “lost decade” for Kazakhstan

Almaty. February 19. KazTAG – For Kazakhstan, 2012-2022 became a “lost decade,” said World Bank experts.
“After a significant increase of 4.5% per year on average in 2000-2007, total factor productivity growth fell to 0.9% per year in 2012-2022. (...) Actually,  this was a “lost decade” for Kazakhstan,” reads the WB report “On the Economy of Kazakhstan – Winter 2023-2024.”
According to the document, Kazakhstan shows subdued growth due to low productivity and structural weaknesses of the economy.
The most obvious shortcoming is in capital investment, which has fallen from 26% of GDP on average before 2007 to less than 23% in the last decade. Kazakhstan consistently allocates, according to the World Bank, less funds for research and development (R&D) - less than even the average for upper-middle-income countries. The banking crisis of 2008-2009 disrupted the flow of lending to companies.
“In real terms, the business lending stock in 2022 was about 35% below 2007 levels,” reads the report.