On the sidelines of the CFO Summit 2021, he commented on the statement by World Bank experts that government lending contributes to the survival of ineffective “zombie enterprises”. In his opinion, out of the entire volume of various and extensive projects, there are certainly unproductive ones, which, according to the business comments, they are focused on.
“However, a number of programs are quite effective. For example, “The Economy of Simple Things” aimed at supporting important projects, as in any case the economy must develop and projects must be implemented. There is demand for many products and services, and not all sectors have been affected by the pandemic, many, on the contrary, have just grown up. Therefore, I would not generalize, although I would agree that some of the programs are ineffective,” he explained.
Zhamishev emphasized that supporting the economy at the expense of the state is rather an extraordinary measure. “I don’t think that any country has proven methods of such assistance, because this is, in principle, an abnormal situation, the private sector support at the expense of the budget, this is wrong. Such a measure is used as extraordinary and cannot be permanent. Clearly, it is important to do this effectively and correctly, but we cannot even turn to international experience as it does not exist. Everyone learns from their mistakes, including Kazakhstan,” the economist believes.
As for the National Bank’s exit from the government support programs, Zhamishev positively assesses this step. In his opinion, this structure should not participate in such projects.
“If, it entered these programs due to emergency measures, it clearly should exit them, but getting out is always more difficult than getting in. In any case, the business will adjust to it,” he said.
Source: https://lsm.kz/zhamishev-interv-yu
Photos are from open sources.
