Kazakhstan’s banking sector increased deposits by 482 billion tenge ($1.03 billion) in April despite negative exchange-rate revaluation effects, primarily due to inflows from retail clients. The loan portfolio expanded by 316 billion tenge during the month. However, banks’ profits were 18.1% lower than in April 2025.
Assets continue to grow
Total sector assets increased by 803 billion tenge in April, or 1.1% (estimates by Kursiv Research based on data from the National Bank of Kazakhstan).
Kaspi Bank posted the strongest monthly performance, with assets increasing by 295 billion tenge. Other notable gains were recorded by Bank RBK (+196 billion tenge), Bank CenterCredit (+172 billion tenge), Bank of China Kazakhstan (+167 billion tenge), Halyk Bank (+149 billion tenge), and Freedom Bank Kazakhstan (+106 billion tenge).
At the other end of the spectrum, Citibank Kazakhstan and ForteBank recorded the largest monthly declines, with assets falling by 107 billion tenge and 128 billion tenge, respectively.
Year to date, asset growth has been driven primarily by four banks: Kaspi Bank (+407 billion tenge over four months), Otbasy Bank (+384 billion tenge), Bank of China Kazakhstan (+315 billion tenge), and Halyk Bank (+294 billion tenge).
Meanwhile, the largest declines were recorded by Bereke Bank (-100 billion tenge), Alatau City Bank (-102 billion tenge), ForteBank (-200 billion tenge), and Eurasian Bank (-225 billion tenge). Bank CenterCredit posted the steepest decline overall, with assets down 320 billion tenge.
Bank of China Kazakhstan leads the sector in asset growth, having expanded its balance sheet by 54.4% since the beginning of the year. Growth has been driven by a surge in corporate deposits: legal-entity funds increased by 291 billion tenge during the first four months of the year, the strongest result in the sector. Asset growth closely mirrors this increase, rising by 315 billion tenge over the same period.
At the same time, Bank of China Kazakhstan remains only marginally involved in lending. As of May 1, loans accounted for just 8.7% of its assets.
Lending growth remains modest
Total sector lending (excluding reverse repos) increased by 316 billion tenge in April and by 384 billion tenge, or 0.9%, since the beginning of the year.
Bank CenterCredit led the sector in April with loan growth of 93 billion tenge, followed by Otbasy Bank (+88 billion tenge). Kaspi Bank ranked third (+43 billion tenge), followed by Halyk Bank (+39.4 billion tenge) and Home Credit Bank (+39.1 billion tenge).
Nurbank posted the weakest monthly result, with its loan portfolio shrinking by 16 billion tenge.
Year to date, the leaders in absolute loan growth are Kaspi Bank (+190 billion tenge), Bank CenterCredit (+188 billion tenge), and Otbasy Bank (+178 billion tenge). Home Credit Bank has also expanded rapidly, adding 93 billion tenge.
Halyk Bank remains the only major lender with a significant portfolio contraction, down 291 billion tenge since the beginning of the year. Among large banks, ForteBank (-0.4 billion tenge) and Freedom Bank Kazakhstan (-1.1 billion tenge) have also posted essentially flat lending growth.
Asset quality deteriorates
The total volume of defaulted loans (Stage 3 loans and POCI assets) increased by 73 billion tenge in April.
Read also: Loan boom: Kazakh banks expand as authorities seek a cooldown.
Kaspi Bank and Halyk Bank recorded the largest increases in problem assets, with defaulted loans rising by 19.1 billion tenge and 25.6 billion tenge, respectively. By contrast, Eurasian Bank (-3.5 billion tenge) and Alatau City Bank (-7.1 billion tenge) reduced their volumes of distressed assets.
The share of nonperforming loans in the total lending portfolio increased from 6.07% on Jan. 1 to 6.58% on May 1.
Seven banks now have nonperforming-loan ratios exceeding 10%. Four of them — Bank of China Kazakhstan, sanctioned VTB Bank Kazakhstan, South Korea’s BNK Finance Kazakhstan, and Islamic Bank Zaman — play only a limited role in the lending market.
Bereke Bank, Alatau City Bank, and Home Credit Bank, however, rank among the country’s 10 largest lenders by loan portfolio, occupying eighth through 10th place, respectively.
New regulatory requirements take effect
On June 1, a resolution by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) on establishing values for indicators of deterioration in a bank’s financial stability entered into force.
Under the regulation, a double-digit ratio of distressed assets may trigger significant regulatory intervention under certain conditions. For example, if the share of defaulted loans (Stage 3 loans and POCI assets) exceeds 10% for six consecutive months and loan-loss provisions cover less than 40% of the distressed portfolio, the bank may be placed under enhanced supervision.
If the ratio reaches 15%, the institution may be subjected to an even stricter financial-recovery regime.
Retail deposits drive funding growth
Retail deposits increased by 396 billion tenge, or 1.4%, in April.
Kaspi Bank posted the largest increase, attracting 162 billion tenge in retail funds during the month. Bank CenterCredit also recorded strong growth, adding 100 billion tenge.
Modest outflows were recorded at Bank RBK (-10.3 billion tenge), Alatau City Bank (-10.5 billion tenge), and Eurasian Bank (-12.4 billion tenge).
Corporate liquidity remains concentrated
Unlike retail customers, corporate clients showed little broad-based liquidity growth.
Nearly all net inflows were concentrated among four banks: Halyk Bank (+172 billion tenge), Bank RBK (+170 billion tenge), Bank of China Kazakhstan (+168 billion tenge), and Kaspi Bank (+127 billion tenge).
By contrast, Altyn Bank recorded a substantial outflow of 155 billion tenge in April, while Citibank Kazakhstan lost 124 billion tenge. Bereke Bank also joined the list of laggards, with corporate deposits declining by 83 billion tenge. The outflows may have been partly influenced by the high degree of dollarization in their funding bases.
