The Week in Kazakhstan: Bright Future

Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cut interest rates on June 5 from 18% to 17%. In January, Central Bank’s head Timur Suleimenov had said that he did not expect the rate to be modified for the first half of the year.The current cut, according to Suleimenov, is linked to improved forecasts for the rest of the year.He also noted that the decision should not affect the value of the tenge.In May, year-on-year inflation was at 10.4%, according to the Statistics Committee’s press release on June 1.The ministry of justice registered on June 1 Adilet (Kazakh for “Justice”), a new party.The party had its founding congress on May 7 and is headed by former chief of Presidential Administration Aibek Dadebai.Over the past decade, several political groups applied for registration, but before Adilet only two political parties have registered: the pro-government Respublica and Baitak parties. [Read more here.] Financial giant Freedom Holding applied for a French banking license, the company said on June 1.Owned by billionaire Timur Turlov, Freedom pledged a $500 million investment.Nasdaq-listed Freedom Holding is currently under scrutiny from the US Security and Exchange Commission.reQUEst, a Kazakhstani activist group, has petitioned a court in Astana to open legal proceedings against the ministry of culture, following the ministry’s alleged decision to block a website created by the group to spread personal, psychological, and legal advice to the country’s LGBTQ+ community.On June 1, reQUEst said court hearings are set to take place on June 8.Should the case go to trial, it would be the first time that the “anti-LGBT propaganda law” is applied in Kazakhstan.