Several of Kazakhstan’s largest banks have suspended mortgage lending after the central bank raised the base rate to 18%, except Freedom Bank and Otbasy Bank, which specializes in housing savings and offers mortgages at preferential rates.
Halyk Bank, Nurbank and ForteBank have temporarily suspended their mortgage programs.
Bank CenterCredit continues to offer home loans, including under state programs, noting that the base rate hike alone is not grounds for rejection. However, the bank emphasized that new regulations for calculating the average annualized mortgage rate have tightened debt-to-equity ratios, disqualifying some borrowers.
Kaspi Bank and Alatau City Bank, among the country’s largest lenders, do not currently offer mortgage products. Bereke Bank and Eurasian Bank have not provided home loans for some time, though both did previously. Freedom Bank told Kursiv.media that it continues to issue mortgages at existing rates.
However, following the recent 18% base rate hike, the bank will raise interest rates across all lending programs except the state-backed ‘7-20-25’ mortgage initiative.
