bne November 2013
Eurasia
of Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna. He has clashed more than once with Marchenko over Kazakhstan's reform agenda in recent years. The president offered little detail on why Kelimbetov has been appointed. "I consider that his knowledge of Kazakhstan's economy and financial situation will have a positive impact on the work of the National Bank," Nazarbayev's statement said curtly. The change of leadership comes at a critical time for the NBK, which is in the process of taking over Kazakhstan's pensions system. Under plans pushed by Marchenko and announced at the beginning of 2013, the country's ten private pension funds will be merged with the state fund. The resulting "GNPF Accumulation Pension Fund" will add
wealth does not make it far out of the major cities.
$23bn to the NBK's overall assets of $120bn – equivalent to 60% of GDP, Marchenko said in an interview with Reuters last month. As in many CEE states struggling through years of economic hardship and fiscal difficulties, the government in Kazakhstan has shown enthusiasm for getting its hands on those private pension funds. Nazarbayev says collecting pension assets into a single, state-run fund will allow the government to mobilise billions of dollars for large projects to help sustain growth. The president is pushing huge investment in infrastructure, both to help the economy and stem growing disillusionment amongst the population with the system. The biggest gripe is that the country's growing oil and gas
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Analysts suggest that despite the pledge policy will not change under Kelimbetov, the GNPF is likely to raise its investment in infrastructure projects. Marchenko had said he planned to raise the ratio of pension assets invested abroad, and warned that any large-scale state projects must be subject to strict expertise and be profitable. Nazarbayev has set a deadline for the pension fund merger of January 1, 2014. However, Marchenko told Reuters in September that it is not certain the process will be completed by the end of the year. In June, Nazarbayev criticized the NBK for its role in a plan to make the retirement age equal for men and women, calling its work "unsatisfactory."
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