Kazakh leader urges restraint in public spending

* Nazarbayev says global economy "uncertain"

* Tells parliament to solve problems without spending more

By Raushan Nurshayeva

ASTANA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told government officials on Wednesday to curtail public spending as the global economy has not yet fully recovered from the financial crisis.

"We have dealt successfully with the wave of global crisis, but we cannot relax. The global economic situation remains uncertain. There has not yet been a fully fledged recovery," he said at the opening of the autumn session of parliament.

Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, was among the first and hardest hit by the global crisis. Four local banks defaulted and are only now emerging from restructuring programmes that required creditors to write off large debts.

Economic growth slowed to 1.2 percent last year, after averaging around 9 percent annually over the last decade, but the country's gross domestic product (GDP) has recovered to expand by 8 percent in the first six months of 2010.

Nazarbayev, 70, has ruled Kazakhstan for more than two decades and is entitled to run for an unlimited number of terms.

"We must be prepared for different scenarios and not get carried away with increasing spending," he told parliament.

"Parliament and the government must control the rational use of budgetary means devoted to growth programmes. Many issues must be solved without spending more. We need to cut government spending where possible, economise and create results," he said.

Kazakhstan's budget deficit is forecast to shrink to 2.8 percent of GDP next year, from an estimated 4.1 percent in 2010, Finance Minister Bolat Zhamishev said on Tuesday.

The minister also said he expected Kazakhstan to revise its GDP growth forecast to 5 percent this year from its current official estimate of 4 percent.

The country, Central Asia's largest oil producer, plans to double its export duty on crude oil to $40 per tonne from Jan. 1. The higher tax is expected to earn the country about $2.9 billion next year. [ID:nLDE67U0UT]

Budget revenues are set to rise by 20 percent next year to about 4.1 trillion tenge ($27.5 billion) and Economy Minister Zhanar Aitzhanova forecasts GDP growth of 3.1 percent in 2011. (Writing by Robin Paxton; Editing by Kim Coghill)