Kazakh leader orders government to open oil fund for projects

Kazakhstan's president ordered his government on Tuesday to allocate $3 billion from the National Fund every year from 2015 to 2017 to bolster growth in an economy hit by falling oil prices and a slowdown in Russia, Reuters reported.
The National Fund, which is replenished with windfall revenues from oil exports, stood at $76.8 billion as of Oct 31.
'One of the main tasks of the fund is to ensure the stability of our economy against external shocks, which include a fall in world prices for natural resources,' Nursultan Nazarbayev said in a live television address to the nation.
'The investment from the National Fund must be necessarily accompanied by structural reforms ... This money will be channelled to develop transport, energy, industrial and social infrastructure,' he said, without giving further details.