ASTANA, February 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan's economy grew 8.5% year-on-year in 2007, the president of the Central Asian republic said on Wednesday.

"The country's economic growth stood at 8.5%, and the economy has been growing at an average rate of 10% per year since 2001, which is considered to be accelerated development," Nursultan Nazarbayev said in his annual state of the nation address.

Nazarbayev said Kazakhstan had formed substantial international reserves of about $40 billion, and that this factor had played a key role in maintaining the stability of the country's financial system.