Kazakhstan’s banking statistics for March reflected a 3.8% strengthening of the tenge. The sector also benefited from increased liquidity driven by an inflow of corporate deposits, allowing banks to partially restore assets to levels seen at the beginning of 2026. The loan portfolio fully recovered, although growth continued to be driven primarily by retail lending. Meanwhile, sector profits continued to decline, as expected.
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Total banking sector assets, which had fallen in January and February, returned to growth in March. Over the month, assets increased by 504 billion tenge, or 0.7% (hereinafter, Kursiv Research calculations based on data from the National Bank of Kazakhstan).
Among major banks, only three lenders posted declines in March: Eurasian Bank, whose assets fell by 41 billion tenge, Bank RBK (-177 billion tenge), and Bank CenterCredit (BCC, -203 billion tenge).
Winners and losers since the start of the year
Since the beginning of the year, total sector assets have declined by 225 billion tenge, or 0.3%. Eleven banks recorded growth, while 12 posted declines.
State-owned Otbasy Bank delivered the strongest performance, with assets increasing by 428 billion tenge in the first quarter. Other top performers included Citibank Kazakhstan (+194 billion tenge), Bank of China Kazakhstan (+148 billion tenge), Halyk Bank (+145 billion tenge) and Kaspi Bank (+111 billion tenge).
At the other end of the ranking were Alatau City Bank (-148 billion tenge), Eurasian Bank (-170 billion tenge) and Bank RBK (-243 billion tenge). BCC posted the weakest overall result, with assets shrinking by 491 billion tenge.
In relative terms, among the major banks, Bank RBK recorded the steepest decline, with assets down 8.9% year to date. The drop was largely attributed to an outflow of corporate deposits totaling 217 billion tenge in the first quarter.
Assets also fell significantly at Alatau City Bank (-4.4%), Eurasian Bank (-5.6%) and BCC (-5.7%). At BCC, one of the key factors behind the decline was a 9% reduction in its corporate deposit portfolio since the beginning of the year. Alatau City and Eurasian Bank experienced both corporate and retail deposit outflows.
Retail lending drives portfolio growth
The banking sector’s total loan portfolio — excluding reverse repo operations — increased by 124 billion tenge in March. That growth was enough to bring the sector into slightly positive territory for the first quarter, with lending up 0.2% year to date.
Despite government efforts to cool consumer lending, retail-focused banks continued to drive overall growth. Kaspi Bank contributed the largest increase to the sector’s loan portfolio in the first quarter, adding 147 billion tenge, followed by BCC (+95 billion tenge), Otbasy Bank (+90 billion tenge) and Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan (+54 billion tenge).
Other lenders continue to lag well behind, although the year is still in its early stages.
The only major outlier in the lending ranking was Halyk Bank, whose loan portfolio shrank by 330 billion tenge in the first quarter. Eight other banks also posted negative lending growth, although none had a significant impact on the broader market.
Home Credit Bank Kazakhstan led the sector in relative growth, with its loan portfolio expanding 5.7% year to date. KMF also posted solid growth of 4.1%, although the pace was supported by a relatively low base: as of Jan. 1, the lender’s portfolio stood at 331 billion tenge, ranking 14th in the sector.
Problem loans continue to rise
The volume of nonperforming loans — including Stage 3 loans and purchased or originated credit-impaired assets (POCI) — increased by 64 billion tenge in March and by 170 billion tenge over the first quarter, representing growth of 6.4%.
Halyk Bank posted the largest increase in troubled loans, which rose by 64 billion tenge since the start of the year. Other banks showing notable deterioration included Kaspi Bank (+44 billion tenge), ForteBank (+22 billion tenge) and Bank RBK (+16 billion tenge).
Retail deposits decline as the tenge strengthens
Retail deposits in the banking system declined by 55 billion tenge, or 0.2%, in March. However, the drop may have been largely attributable to exchange-rate revaluation rather than actual outflows. During the month, the tenge strengthened by 3.8%, from 497.6 to 478.8 per U.S. dollar.
Nurbank delivered one of the month’s biggest surprises, increasing retail deposits by 24 billion tenge, or 15.7%. Only state-backed Otbasy Bank attracted more, adding 30 billion tenge during the month.
Corporate deposits rebound after two-month decline
Corporate deposits across the banking sector increased nominally by 545 billion tenge in March, up 2.9% from the previous month, following two consecutive months of steep declines.
Halyk Bank posted the strongest inflow, adding 263 billion tenge in corporate funds, followed by Bank of China Kazakhstan with 114 billion tenge. The only major lender to experience significant outflows was Bank RBK, which lost 135 billion tenge in corporate deposits during the month.
Still, by the end of the first quarter, total corporate deposits in the banking system had fallen by 981 billion tenge, or 4.8%.
Among the top 10 banks, only three managed to expand their corporate deposit portfolios during the quarter: Citibank Kazakhstan (+67 billion tenge), Freedom Bank (+66 billion tenge) and Kaspi Bank (+45 billion tenge).
The largest overall inflows of corporate funds were recorded at Otbasy Bank (+140 billion tenge) and Bank of China Kazakhstan (+122 billion tenge).
Bank profits decline under mounting pressure
Banking sector profits continued to weaken under pressure from fiscal and regulatory tightening, including a higher tax burden, increases in the minimum reserve requirements and government measures aimed at cooling consumer lending.
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In the first quarter of 2026, Kazakhstan’s banks collectively earned 592 billion tenge, down 10.8% from 664 billion tenge a year earlier.
Excluding Freedom Bank, which posted deep losses a year ago, not a single universal bank in the sector managed to significantly improve on its financial performance from the previous year.
