ALMATY, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhs are significantly less well off now because of the collapse of the tenge and price rises, the ranking.kz website reported, although the general feeling on streets of Almaty is one of cautious optimism that the worst of an economic downturn is over.

Ranking.kz said that on average, people’s purchasing power had dropped by 4.5% in 2016, the sharpest drop in the last 16 years. In 2009, during the Global Financial Crisis, ranking.kz said that people’s purchasing power dropped by 3.1%.

On the streets of Almaty, though, people appeared less concerned by their apparent drop in purchasing power. A Conway Bulletin correspondent said that economic sentiment had turned with the tenge finally strengthening against the US dollar, oil prices staying around $55/barrel and inflation slowing.

Iraina, 22, was hurrying along a frozen sidestreet clutching a bag of groceries.

“Honestly, no. Of course it was a noticeable increase in groceries prices but I do not restrain myself,” she said. “I have a good salary, whereas prices increased only by 20 to 30 tenge.”

For Bakyt Kasenovich, 68, even though there had been an obvious economic dip, life now was far better than it was in 1990s or 2000s.

“I would not say that our level of life decreased so much. We, most likely, just got used to a rise in prices. I would not say that Kazakhstan faces this heavy crisis now,” he said. “Anyway we live better than before.”

A survey by ACT, an FSU-focused research company, showed that in October 2016 84% of Kazakhs were generally upbeat about their personal finances. They also expected to have an even better financial scenario by April 2017.

ENDS