The Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) published the results of a weekly macro review of the EAEU economies. Experts noted that investment and business activity in Kazakhstan maintains positive dynamics. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.
Investments in fixed capital in January-April of this year increased by 6.7% year-on-year, reaching 4.94 trillion tenge. The main source of financing remains enterprises' own funds, accounting for 67.4% of the total. The share of bank loans, despite high interest rates, increased to 6.8% compared to 3.5% a year earlier. This indicates a steady demand from businesses for investment financing.
The business activity index rose to 51.6 in May after 50.9 in April, remaining above the neutral level. The strongest dynamics were observed in the construction sector. "We expect investments to support high economic activity in 2026," the EDB said.
Price pressure in Russia is weakening. In May 2026, consumer prices rose by 5.3% after 5.6% in April. "Food inflation slowed from 4.0% to 2.9% a month earlier. This is mainly due to seasonal vegetables. Prices for vegetables and fruits fell by 10.4%. At the same time, prices for non-food goods increased from 3.9% to 4.2%, and for services from 9.9% to 10.1%," bank experts said. Core inflation was 4.9%. Disinflation in May reached 13%, exceeding the average for 2018-2019. Analysts forecast inflation at about 5.3% by the end of 2026.
Inflation in Belarus slowed to 4.8% in May after 5.4% in April. The main factor is a slowdown in food price growth: from 6.3% to 4.9% a month earlier. "This is mainly due to a decrease in prices for vegetable products: by 3.1% in April and 7.8% in May. The growth rates of prices for non-food goods and services are close to last month's levels: 2.0% and 8.5%, respectively," the EDB explained. Bank specialists predict that inflation this year will be below the threshold parameter of 7%.