Kazakhstan borrows $680 million from two Asian banks amidst growing budget deficit

Kazakhstan will take two loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The corresponding draft law has already been taken into consideration by the Mazhilis, the lower house of Kazakhstan’s parliament.

The AIIB is going to provide Kazakhstan with a 52.7-billion-yen (about $340 million) loan with a 15-year maturity, including a grace period until June 1, 2027. In turn, the ADB has also approved a 52.3-billion-yen ($337 million) loan on the same terms. Both loan agreements were signed in Astana on Aug. 21 and Aug. 23, respectively. The interest rate for the loans remains unclear.

«The money is being raised to keep the national economy sustainable within the approved size of the budget deficit in the planned period,» MP Tatiana Savelyeva said in a statement on the issue.

She also noted that the project was prepared in response to changes in the parameters of the 2024 national budget. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Finance decided to expand the budget deficit this year to $7.2 billion, or 2.7% of the GDP, due to decreasing state revenues.

These borrowings have become an additional measure along with this year’s increase in the size of money transfers from the National Fund from $7 billion to $11.2 billion and the issuing of euro bonds by the Finance Ministry.

The budget deficit in 2025 is projected to be 2.7% of the GDP, with a gradual decline to 1.9% of the GDP by 2027. In early September, during the presentation of a three-year draft budget, MP Erlan Sairov revealed that the budget deficit may reach $9.6 billion by 2025 and the government would need to borrow that money. At the same time, Kazakhstan already spends 15% of its state budget to meet its financial obligations.

The AIIB is headquartered in Beijing and the ADB is located in Manila.