Kazakhstan’s economy will grow by 5 per cent in 2008 – the lowest rate this decade – as the global liquidity crisis spills over into the oil-rich central Asian republic, according to the Kazakh prime minister.

But to ensure a soft landing for the economy after seven years of near double-digit annual growth, the government was prepared to double a $4bn (€2.7bn, £2bn) stabilisation fund launched in November, said Karim Massimov. Kazakhstan’s economic growth slowed to 8.7 per cent in 2007 from 10.6 per cent a year earlier.