Kazakhstani banks are changing their funding structure. Deposits from Kazakhstani residents now account for 80% of funding, while foreign borrowing has reached $10 billion.
According to Madina Abylkassymova, head of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM), banks have written off stressed assets totaling $14.3 billion, leading to a decline in assets.
During the Taldau Talks show on YouTube, the official said that banks’ main source of funding is currently deposits (80%). However, over the past two years, banks have begun actively returning to the Eurobond market, issuing debt securities denominated in foreign currencies.
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Abylkassymova also noted that, in addition to deposits, it is necessary to expand the liability side of banks’ balance sheets in order to increase the banking system’s assets.
«In 2024 and 2025, banks placed a total of $10 billion in bonds on various markets. We had panda bonds and Eurobonds — $10 billion worth of new debt in dollar terms. This increases banks’ balance sheets and their ability to issue more foreign currency loans,» she emphasized.
According to the head of ARDFM, two years ago the National Bank launched a $1 billion program to invest funds from the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund in bank bonds. However, due to high inflation, demand for this financing was low and banks issued only $452 million worth of bonds.
At the same time, new foreign-currency borrowings allow banks to increase their foreign-currency lending without creating a currency mismatch.
During the podcast, Abylkassymova also revealed that maximum interest rates on consumer loans may eventually be determined based on average market rates.
