Regional development budgets for 2004 reviewed

The national budget commission has started to review the regional development budgets for 2004, the prime minister press service reports. At the 22nd meeting of the commission chaired by the prime minister of RK Danial Akhmetov as of 6 October the development budgets of Aktobe, West Kazakhstan, Kostanai oblasts and Astana were reviewed.

During the meeting it was noted the forecasts of development budgets for West Kazakhstan and Aktobe oblasts had grown by 83% and 75% correspondingly, while a decrease by 5.4% and 25.8% was forecasted for Kostanai oblast and Astana.

Commenting on these figures, D. Akhmetov stressed that each oblast had to receive single purpose transfers to resolve education and health problems only in accordance with the real requirements of the oblasts.

In relation with this, the prime minister observed that an objective evaluation of republic's demands for social facilities had to be made in order to optimise their construction in various regions of Kazakhstan.

It was recommended to the heads of the regions, who had spoken at the commission, to review an issue of increasing development budget shares for education, health, water supply, social infrastructure of the village and road construction.

At the same time D. Akhmetov stressed that oblast heads had to abstain from constructing facilities, not complying with the country priorities in the area of state investments.