ASTANA – Kazakhstan should consider raising taxes on wealthy individuals, revise parts of its new Tax Code to address business concerns, and encourage banks to provide more long-term loans to businesses, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said in his annual state-of-the-nation address on Oct.
28. Tokayev outlined priorities for macroeconomic policy, including fighting inflation, improving public spending and increasing investment in the real economy. He stressed that economic policy should ultimately be measured by its impact on people’s prosperity and economic activity.
“Our main goal is therefore to increase household incomes. To achieve this, we must first systematically combat inflation,” he said, describing inflation as “a silent enemy that steadily undermines the well-being of our citizens.” He called on the government and the National Bank to coordinate efforts to contain and reduce inflation, pursue balanced fiscal and tax policy, and create conditions for stronger production capacity and higher business productivity.
Tokayev also called for a discussion on introducing a higher tax rate for individuals with substantial wealth, framing the proposal as a matter of fairness rather than a restriction on private property. “I believe the time has come to discuss introducing a higher rate for those with substantial wealth,” he said.
He stressed that the proposal would not involve restricting legally acquired assets, which he said would contradict the Constitution. Instead, he stressed that citizens should make a fair contribution to the country’s development in proportion to their means. “This is about a proportionate and fair contribution by every citizen to the development of our country.
This is about fairness,” Tokayev said. The government and the Kurultai, Kazakhstan’s national legislature, are to examine the proposal and submit recommendations. The president also linked fair taxation to transparency and digitalization. He called for advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, to improve tax collection, reduce the shadow economy and lower corruption risks.
Tokayev said Kazakhstan’s financial system remained resilient, with bank assets exceeding 75 trillion tenge (US$164.6 billion) and deposits reaching a record 52 trillion tenge (US$114.1 billion). About 78% of deposits are held in the national currency, which he cited as evidence of the tenge’s growing value.
The next priority, he said, is to channel these accumulated financial resources into the real economy.