The National Bank is working to expand QR payment access for Kazakhstanis in China, India, the UAE and several other countries by mid-2027. According to National Bank Deputy Chairman Binur Zhalenov, who took part in the Central Asia Fintech Summit 2026, the regulator is continuing work to enable cross-border payments…
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. Read also: High deposit inflows meet rising credit stress in Kazakh banking. He said brokers,…
Companies working on complex projects in Kazakhstan will be required to gradually replace foreign specialists with Kazakhstani personnel under the Improved Model Contract (IMC). Energy Minister Yerlan Akkenzhenov announced the requirement at a recent cabinet meeting. However, his report did not clarify whether the changes cover Kazakhstan’s three largest oil…
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Kazakhstan (ADCB) Chairman Farooq Al Marzooqi announced during a meeting with Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov that the bank intends to triple financing for Kazakhstani projects over the next 18 months. The current figure stands at 2.5 trillion tenge (approximately $5.5 billion). The parties discussed expanding…
Kazakhstani industrial company SP BKM signed an agreement with India-based International Tractors Limited to assemble and produce tractors. The agreement is worth $120 million. During the Kazakhstan-India Business, Trade and Investment Forum, SP BKM and Indian agricultural machinery manufacturer International Tractors Limited reached an agreement to assemble and locally produce…
National Bank of Kazakhstan Governor Timur Suleimenov expressed hope that inflation will decline significantly by the end of September or October, allowing the National Bank to cut its base rate more aggressively than previously anticipated. The recently reduced base rate stands at 16.25%. «As long as inflation remains high and…
Extreme heat could be far more damaging to global rice production than previously thought, according to a study by German scientists who analyzed hundreds of field experiments. The study was conducted by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research in collaboration with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice has denied reports that the collection of a 2.3 trillion tenge (about $5 billion) environmental fine from NCOC, the operator of the Kashagan oil field, in favor of the state has been terminated. «NCOC has currently appealed the actions of the state bailiff. Therefore, the Atyrau…
Driven by the global artificial intelligence boom, Kazakhstan’s government is spearheading an ambitious initiative to build a competitive data center industry almost from scratch, leveraging the country’s cheap coal-fired power generation. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev designated 2026 as the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence, setting off a wave of sweeping…
As of early September, Uzbekistan’s gold and foreign exchange reserves rose by $7.7 billion month-on-month, surpassing $72.1 billion, according to the country’s central bank. Of that amount, gold reserves totaled $64.9 billion, up 15.6%, while foreign currency reserves stood at $6.6 billion, down 13.3%. According to estimates from the World…
Kazakhstan is considering exempting non-resident investors from tax on capital gains from the sale of quasi-public sector bonds in transactions conducted outside Kazakhstani stock exchanges. Foreign investors could potentially invest 1.4 trillion tenge (approximately $3 billion) in the debt of Kazakhstani companies. During a meeting of the project office overseeing…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Finance is taking orders for two yuan-denominated bond issues, according to the Finmentor Telegram channel. Kazakhstan had already raised 3.4 billion yuan through its debut sovereign panda bond issue in China earlier this year. According to economist Arman Batayev, the Astana International Exchange (AIX) is collecting orders…
Seven OPEC+ countries have agreed to maintain their September 2026 required oil production levels in October, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. The decision was made during a virtual meeting on Sept. 6 to review global oil market conditions and the outlook. The seven participating countries are…
Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Industry and Construction said that, starting in 2027, the country will put promising new subsoil blocks prepared under its large-scale state geological study of subsurface resources program up for investment auctions. The announcement was made during Industry and Construction Minister Yersaiyn Nagaspayev’s working visit to the Ulytau…
In the first quarter of 2026, the Turkish stock market saw a strong rally, reflecting an improved perception of Turkish assets among international and local investors. Borsa Istanbul’s key index, the BIST 100, delivered strong gains: It starting the year at 11,296 points and climbed to record highs throughout the…
The National Bank of Kazakhstan reduced the base rate from 16.75% to 16.25%. The decision was made at a Monetary Policy Committee meeting on Sept. 4. This marks the third consecutive reduction in the base rate, following cuts in June and July from 18% to 17% and from 17% to…
The traditional five-day, 40-hour workweek is increasingly being challenged as companies and governments recognize that longer hours do not necessarily translate into greater productivity. A recent ranking by World Population Review highlights how the global shift toward shorter work schedules is reshaping ideas about productivity and employee well-being. From experimental…
Lion Finance Group, the parent company of Bank of Georgia, hasn’t approached Kazakhstan’s regulator about acquiring a local bank, Madina Abylkassymova, chair of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market, told Kursiv.media. «The agency has not received any application from the company, and at present we have…
Retail investing in Kazakhstan is no longer a niche market. In the first quarter of 2026, the KASE Index gained 10.0% to 7,734.60 points, while retail investors accounted for 43.5% of equity trading volume. The market includes brokers licensed by the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market…
Lion Finance Group Plc, a Georgian banking group that controls Bank of Georgia, is planning to expand into the Central Asian market. According to CEO Archil Gachechiladze, the group plans to acquire large banks in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, as well as in the Baltics and the Balkans. Interestingly, Lion Finance…
China, Kazakhstan and Russia are exploring the possibility of creating a transport corridor along the Irtysh and Ob rivers. The new waterway could connect China’s western regions with the Arctic, according to the South China Morning Post. The route would run from Xinjiang through Kazakhstan and Russia before reaching the…
Emmanuel Besnier, CEO of France’s Lactalis Group, the world’s largest dairy company, is changing the group’s approach to its assets in Kazakhstan. Lactalis’ Kazakhstani subsidiary, FoodMaster Company JSC, will now reinvest the vast majority of its profits in the business, directing more funds toward production upgrades while reducing payments to…
A few years ago, journalist and blogger Kirill Pavlov came up with an unusual way to track the value of the U.S. dollar against the Kazakh tenge: the «Shymkent Shashlik Index.» He first discussed the idea in 2020. At the time, a single skewer of shashlik (kebab) in Shymkent cost…
South Korea’s Lotte Hotels & Resorts is being considered for a role in the Iconic Tower project in Kazakhstan’s new city of Alatau. This was announced at a meeting of the Alatau City Council chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov, the government’s press service reported. Earlier, the Iconic Towers…
