As if on cue, 10 days later ratings agency Standard and Poor's raised its assessments to reflect "significant improvement in the country's external liquidity.and adherence to prudent fiscal and monetary policies."
It added that "the construction of new export routes.and confirmation of new reserves of oil and gas in the Caspian Sea would also underpin the country's creditworthiness."
However, while the economic indicators appear highly encouraging, nagging doubts remain about the political process in this country where the president tolerates little opposition and enjoys sweeping powers, and his family holds huge influence.
"The ratings on Kazakhstan continue to be constrained by the highly centralised decision-making process and weak democracy," says Standard and Poor's.
For German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, the call for more democracy was the main theme of a recent visit to Astana.
He told a group of opposition leaders, who complained to him of abuses in the democratic process, that future development of the economy demanded greater transparency, and that this was "impossible without a greater division of powers."
Kazakhstan has a freer press than most countries in ex-Soviet Central Asia, with frequent criticism of senior government ministers. But diplomats and local journalists say three subjects -- the president himself, his family and the new capital -- are broadly off-limits.
Nazarbayev, the country's sole ruler since independence, is in firm control. Long-term investors, for example in the energy sector, where projects can last 40 years or more, welcome the stability that this brings.
But political analysts say the lack of a clear successor, and hesitancy by some investors to come to Kazakhstan because of the perceived lack of political freedom, may act as a brake on the economy from booming as fast as it could, given the country's vast mineral wealth.
At Karachaganak, work proceeds apace as the consortium prepares to get its first oil out on schedule.
"If you come back in June 2003, that's when the first oil is due," said Mike Richardson, site supervisor at the main oil and gas processing centre. "And, we'll be ready."
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