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A possible increase in VAT in Kazakhstan from 12% to 20% will lead to higher prices, lower real incomes and higher inflation. This forecast was made by Askar Kysykov, director of the Talap Center for Applied Research, on the Rossiya 24 TV channel. The Government of Kazakhstan is discussing tax reform in order to solve the problem of the state budget deficit. The reform involves an increase in VAT from 12% to 20%.
An expanded government meeting was held today with the participation of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Opening the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted that global processes can have a strong impact on the republic, which must be prepared for. At the same time, at the meeting, the Head of State emphasized that it is necessary to start living within your means, spending money only on solving the most important tasks. For more information, see the talk show "Results".
"When developing laws and various rules, financial and industrial groups and large businesses have a great influence on decision-making. This is typical for almost all countries, including developed ones. But when this happens behind the scenes, in conditions of complete legal instability, a wide field for corruption is created. In the civilized world, politics is not formed behind closed doors," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said last spring, speaking to deputies.
A regular meeting of the economic club was held at the site of the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, where the draft National Development Plan "Kazakhstan-2029", developed by the Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan (ASPIR), was discussed. The Agency has done a lot of work on the formation of this strategy, however, experts expressed interest in reviewing and finalizing it.
The sociological service of the TALAP Center conducted a unique study on the health of Kazakhstani people.
The fourth piece concludes TALAP’s first series of publications on strategic foresight. If the previous documents presented the global context, the development of the approach, and the results of the pilot test, this infographic captures the method architecture itself: how expert data move from the initial corpus to managerial interpretation.
The next stage was a practical test of the developed approach using materials from the first quarter of 2026. TALAP processed more than 300 publications, posts and comments by economic experts in order to test the full cycle of the Expert Signal Radar.
After studying international practice, TALAP began developing its own approach to strategic foresight in Kazakhstan. Its main purpose is to connect expert observations, facts from the economic agenda and possible consequences of change into a single analytical framework.
