What innovations await Kazakhstanis in 2024?

In the past year of 2023, a number of important laws were adopted in Kazakhstan. Some of them have already come into force. Thus, from today, the country has begun to conduct fingerprint registration of citizens. However, this procedure is voluntary for Kazakhstanis, while foreigners and stateless persons over the age of 16 will have to submit their fingerprints whether they want to or not. Another important project that also started at the beginning of this year is the "National Fund for Children" initiative. I remind you that in his Address on September 1, 2022, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev stated that the land and subsoil belong primarily to the people of Kazakhstan. Then, this provision was enshrined by a republican referendum, which allowed the launch of the project to distribute half of the National Fund's revenues among children.

Murat Sharipov, Managing Director of JSC UAPF:

– Parents do not need to apply anywhere, no documents need to be provided. All this will happen automatically in the database of individuals. The state database has information on all children. By the end of last year, there were about 7 million children in Kazakhstan. Now UAPF is updating this data, and next month they will be able to name the exact number of children and the amount that will be credited to all minors of the country for 2023. I remind you that as soon as a child turns 18, they can spend this money on buying housing or paying for education.

Murat Sharipov, Managing Director of JSC UAPF:

– The credited amount can be seen by parents on the egov.kz or enpf.kz websites. Money is paid only to children – citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In the event of the child's death, it is inherited in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan – and in this case, no requirement is established. That is, parents can use the accumulated amount for any purpose. Another important project will be the "Future" program, which is supposed to encourage parents to save money for their children's education. They can open a special protected account in one of the banks in the name of their child, who has already reached five years of age, where they will save for education. As an additional motivation, the state is ready to transfer starting capital in the amount of 60 MCI to such deposits. Today, this is 221 thousand tenge. However, for the account to be considered valid, it must be replenished monthly by 1 MCI. In this case, the state will credit a 7-percent premium to the accumulated amount. The government has already calculated that with minimum deposits on the deposit by 18 years of age, each account will be able to collect more than 3 million tenge. These funds in the future can be combined with the funds accumulated within the "National Fund for Children" project. And if a child is admitted to a grant, they can be transferred to his younger brothers or sisters or spent on buying housing. As for the size of the calculation indicators, this year they will look as follows: the minimum wage has increased by 15 thousand tenge at once, 1 MCI now amounts to 3692 tenge, and the size of the subsistence minimum has increased slightly and reached 43 thousand.

However, experts say that Kazakhstanis should not expect any particular economic growth this year.

Askar Kysykov, economist:

– The government works more reactively than proactively. Accordingly, major changes should not be expected. Oil prices, metal prices remain high. In principle, this allows balancing the budget. The economy is developing, but not at the pace we would like. The income of the population – they are not growing as such. Inflation remains high. Over the last three years, prices have increased by 42% according to statistics. In reality, it is much more.

The most relevant issue for the population will still be buying housing. Therefore, to make real estate more accessible, a new mortgage program "9-20-25" will be launched in the country this year, which will require 150 billion tenge. This money will be enough for 8 thousand Kazakhstanis to arrange a preferential housing loan. "9-20-25" is primarily aimed at young people, and its interest rate will be 2% higher than the popular "7-20-25" in previous years. Otherwise, the conditions will be similar: an initial contribution – 20%, the maximum loan term – 25 years.

Askar Kysykov, economist:

– There are expectations that, possibly, this interest rate should decrease in the future. Because for many categories of the population, 9% is still a lot. If it is aimed at young families, then to meet these needs, specifically the payment capacities, under this program is very difficult. Also, among the innovations that will affect the population, will be mandatory pension contributions by employers. Now they are obliged to additionally pay 1.5% of their employees' incomes to the UAPF. And also – the third stage of universal declaration, which this year must be passed by individual entrepreneurs and founders of legal entities. In addition, the country will cancel the UST for the self-employed, introduce the issuance of licenses for mining activities, and also begin to accrue social payments to those who have worked for more than seven years in harmful productions. They will also be allowed to retire at 55 years of age. Meanwhile, the most anticipated event of the coming year will be the referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant, which was announced by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev back in September last year.