ADB Approves $500 Million Fiscal Stimulus Loan to Kazakhstan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Board of Directors today approved a $500 million short-term loan to help Kazakhstan mitigate the negative impacts of the global economic crisis on Central Asia’s major economy.

Kazakhstan was the first country in the Asia-Pacific region to be directly affected by the crisis, due to its exposure in the banking sector. After a decade of rapid expansion at 9% real gross domestic product growth per year, the economy plummeted in the second half of 2008, growing only 3.3%. In 2009, GDP is expected to contract by 2%.

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http://www.adb.org/Media/Articles/2009/12978-kazakhstan-loans-approvals/