Kazakhstan weighs commodity export duties to narrow budget gap

Kazakhstan is considering imposing taxes on exports of raw materials including metals and fuels this year to help cover a budget shortfall, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov is now weighing a proposal from the Finance Ministry for the fixed-rate duties, said the people who declined to be identified because the information isn’t public. Taxes on shipments of goods such as sulfur, coal and ferroalloys, along with ores and concentrates of copper and iron, are among those that are expected to yield the most revenue. 

The proposal is still under discussion and a decision is expected later this month, they added. Some of the goods may be struck from the list.

Kazakhstan has struggled to close a budget gap following riots in early 2022 that led President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to consolidate power and boost spending. The challenge has become more difficult due to a delay in the full startup of a project to expand production at Chevron Corp.’s giant oil field in the country.

The Finance Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Tokayev earlier this year accused the Finance Ministry of budgetary maneuvers to hide a revenue gap. Last month, the government took the emergency step of tapping its national oil fund for almost $1 billion to help cover the budget shortfall. 

The ministry is now considering export duties as a potential solution. 

The proposals for some types of raw materials “must be analyzed for economic feasibility,” Serik Zhumangarin, deputy premier responsible for trade and agriculture, said on his Facebook page earlier this month. The government isn’t considering an export tax on grain, he said.