ALMATY, Sept 26: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its 2008 economic growth forecast for Kazakhstan to 4.5 per cent from the previous estimate of 5.0 per cent, a regional IMF official told Reuters on Friday.

What’s likely to happen is that the recovery previously expected in the middle of next year will be pushed towards the end of the year, Tim Callen, head of the IMF mission to Kazakhstan, told Reuters in an interview.

He said the IMF has also cut its Kazakh gross domestic product growth forecast for 2009 to 5.3 per cent from 6.0 per cent.

---Reuters