National Fund of the Republic of Kazakhstan

The guaranteed transfer rule is a statutory cap on how much the National Fund can send to the state budget each year. Originally set at approximately KZT 2 trillion, the cap was lowered to KZT 1.6 trillion following amendments signed by President Tokayev in July 2024. The rule is designed to preserve the fund's real value by limiting withdrawals, though compliance has been inconsistent during periods of fiscal pressure.

The National Bank of Kazakhstan serves as the fund's trustee and asset manager, meaning its chairman, currently Timur Suleimenov, and the National Bank's investment professionals execute the portfolio strategy. Ultimate authority rests with the Presidential Administration and the Ministry of Finance, which jointly determine the fund's investment policy and withdrawal parameters.

They are distinct sovereign entities with a direct financial link. Samruk-Kazyna is Kazakhstan's sovereign wealth fund that holds state-owned operating companies, including national railways, oil and gas assets, and the airline Air Astana. The National Fund acts as a co-investor by purchasing bonds issued by Samruk-Kazyna, which effectively channels some of the oil savings back into domestic state enterprises.

The fund's primary mandate focuses on liquid instruments — sovereign bonds, public equities, and gold — and it has not historically been an active direct private equity investor. Its alternative exposure comes through global real estate, inflation-protected bonds, and fixed-income investments. A more active venture or growth-equity mandate sits with Samruk-Kazyna and its subsidiaries, not the National Fund.

Launched as a government initiative separate from the main stabilization fund, the National Fund for Children allocates a portion of National Fund investment income to savings accounts for every Kazakh minor. The program is a direct wealth-transfer mechanism rather than a grant-making foundation, and it is administered by state agencies outside the National Bank's investment operations.

The National Fund is a member of the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds and has committed to the Santiago Principles, which require publicly available annual reports and audited financial statements. In practice, the fund publishes aggregated asset allocation data and transfer figures, but it does not disclose granular portfolio holdings or manager-level performance.

The IMF and World Bank have repeatedly recommended tightening the withdrawal framework to prevent the fund from being drained during oil price downturns. Their reports argue that the guaranteed transfer rule is still too high relative to the non-oil fiscal deficit, and they have urged Kazakhstan to formalize a counter-cyclical fiscal rule that would make withdrawals genuinely contingent on economic conditions rather than subject to annual political negotiation.