Kazakhstan’s banks report decreasing assets

Published February 7, 2022 21:42

Since the beginning of 2022, assets of Kazakhstan’s bank sector have decreased by $2 billion or 2.3% due to repurchase agreement operations. The loan portfolio of the sector has downsized by $1.151 billion or 2.5% which is also linked to repo transactions for $1.105 billion.

According to Olzhas Kizatov, head of the banking control department in the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, last year the banking sector beefed up its loan portfolio by $46.7 billion (28%). The number of nonperforming loans decreased during the last year from 6.9% to 3.3% because of the write-off of bad corporate loans for $2 billion.

Last year was very productive for the entire banking sector in Kazakhstan. The net revenue of banks increased by 78% and reached $3 billion. The deposit base increased by $10.4 billion (21%) and reached $60 billion last year, including $29 billion of deposits by companies and $31 billion from individuals, reported Kizatov.

There are no signs of deposit outflow in 2022 even though the number of bank deposits has slightly decreased by $895 million or 1.5%. However, this is nothing more than a seasonal shift as many big companies have taken part of the money to make various advance payments, the official said.