Kazakhstan's economy since independence: Does the oil boom offer a second chance for sustainable development?

Abstract

This article examines economic policies and performance in Kazakhstan since independence. The first section reviews the country's macroeconomic performance and the second analyses the privatisation process, focusing on its implication for institutional development and good governance. The third section deals with the oil and minerals sectors, in which Kazakhstan's current comparative advantage lies and which have driven the post-2000 boom. Next the article examines other sectors of the economy, from the perspective of their prospects for hosting diversification, and then it assesses the country's economic prospects in light of its oil wealth and the institutional inheritance from the 1990s. The final section concludes. © 2005 University of Glasgow.