Kazakhstan: Nazarbayev’s hard graph

Kazakh workers build a skyscraper in the country’s capital Astana

The trigger point for Nursultan Nazarbayev came via a graph, in January. Kazakhstan’s long-standing president had called a meeting of his ministers to discuss the country’s economic performance. It was doing well enough, growing by 6% year-on-year in 2013, against 5% in 2012. Private consumption was up, thanks to rising consumer lending, as was foreign direct investment and private-sector investment. The country was performing well in the World Bank’s annual Doing Business report, ticking up 24 places to 50th place in the five years to 2014.