Timur Suleimenov, governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, believes the country needs to move away from a rigid, bank-centric financial system in which banks account for 80% or more of the entire financial sector.
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He said brokers, dealers, insurance companies and the stock market as a whole should roughly double their share of the financial system, from the current 20% to 40% over time.
«In other words, if banks are active, then the economy exists, and funding for the economy exists. If banks have problems, then we have no other source,» he told reporters on the sidelines of Astana Finance Days 2026, answering a question about why he wants to reduce Kazakhstan’s reliance on banks.
In his view, the current structure is «neither good nor bad.» He said it is common in many countries, particularly those with civil-law systems and transition economies. However, the National Bank governor said he wants to see Kazakhstan gradually change that structure.
«Therefore, we now want to gradually and intelligently move away from the situation where we have 80% — let it be 60%, and the rest will be the securities market. Will it be KASE, AIX or perhaps Alatau City? Will it be standard stocks and bonds, or tokenized assets, or assets from new finance? Time will tell, but it’s crucial that we attract all available funding sources for the development of the real sector and not be bank-centric,» Suleimenov said.
Developing the broader financial system
Suleimenov stressed that the policy is not intended to work against banks, but rather to develop Kazakhstan’s financial system as a whole.
«This is normal logic — it’s not directed against banks. Let the entire pie grow. Let the absolute share of banks grow, but the share of other funding instruments should also be added,» he said.
The goal, he said, is to ensure that businesses and the broader economy have access to a wider range of funding sources rather than relying predominantly on bank financing.
Binance and the export of financial services
Suleimenov also said Binance Kazakhstan has been operating in the country for several years, serving clients from Kazakhstan. He said the company could now attract up to 3 million international clients to Kazakhstan. The clients would reportedly come from the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and other regions to access financial services in Kazakhstan.
As a result, Kazakhstan could generate a significant export of financial services.
A memorandum of understanding has already been signed, and the parties are now discussing a roadmap for its implementation.
