EBRD downgrades outlook for Kazakh economy

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has downgraded its outlook for the Kazakh economy in 2015 to 1.2%, from the May 2015 figure of 1.5%.

The report said that the "growth in Kazakhstan, the largest economy in the region, is sharply lower, due to the collapse of the oil price, and to a much lesser extent, the negative effect of an influx of cheap imports from Russia on domestic industries and spillovers of negative investment sentiment from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis".

The EBRD said that the economy of Kazakhstan has been mainly affected by recession in Russia and lower commodity prices, RIA Novosti reports.