Calls to require marketplaces — especially those affiliated with banks — to publish two prices for goods, one standard and one for installment plans, represent a «strange construct,» according to Vitaliy Tutushkin, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s National Bank. He shared his view on Nov. 21 during a Kursiv.media roundtable on…
Kazakhstan’s external debt reached a record high of $172.8 billion at the end of June, according to analysts at Halyk Finance. While private companies hold about 71% of that debt, the latest increase is largely driven by the public and quasi-public sectors. Debt ratio and stability factors The country’s external…
Kazakhstan marked the 28th anniversary of its national currency, the tenge, this year. The National Bank introduced a new series of banknotes designed in a «Saka style.» Throughout its history, the tenge has undergone multiple redesigns, and some observers argue that these updates are occurring too frequently. In an interview…
According to Freedom Bank CEO Gulfairuz Akhmetova, Kazakhstan has the potential to develop a single QR code solution for all Central Asian countries — a move she says would benefit both tourists and entrepreneurs. Speaking at the Central Asia Fintech Summit, where Kazakhstan officially launched its interbank unified QR code,…
Kazakhstan has formally launched a unified interbank QR payment system, enabling customers of participating banks to make purchases at any terminal using a single QR code. The service debuted at the Central Asia Fintech Summit 2025. Freedom Bank, Bank CenterCredit, and Home Credit Bank were the initial participants. Halyk Bank,…
The client base of Freedom Broker continues to grow. As of Oct. 1, 2025, the company had 310,500 active accounts, which is 80,600 more than a year earlier. The growth in new accounts from January to September amounted to 23.6%, and the total number of securities transactions reached 27.2 million.…
Kazakhstan outpaces many developed countries in generosity, reports Ranking.kz. The Charities Aid Foundation notes that Kazakhstani residents donate an average of 1.2% of their income to charity. This achievement places the country 30th worldwide — ahead of the U.S., Japan and Russia. This achievement is highlighted in the World Giving…
A 1.1 billion tenge (about $2 million) securitized bond issue has been listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). The transaction was arranged by Freedom Broker. It marks the first securitization on Kazakhstan’s organized market in seven years. The securities are available to retail investors. How the deal was structured…
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…
Zaman Bank, Kazakhstan’s Islamic bank, rolled out its first retail product this year — unsecured Islamic consumer loans with a maximum loan amount of 3 million tenge (about $5,500) — while progress on Islamic mortgages remains to be seen, according to the bank’s CEO Gulfairuz Assayeva. Notably, the bank made…
On Oct. 10, Kazakhstan’s National Bank raised its base rate by 1.5 percentage points (p.p.) to 18%, with a range of +/–1 p.p. The previous level of 16.5% was set in March 2025 and maintained following the bank’s Monetary Policy Committee meetings in April, June, July and August. The regulator…
Kazakhstan’s stock market capitalization reached 39.6 trillion tenge (about $72 billion) as of Sept. 1, 2025. The figure grew 5.1% in August and 20.4% year to date. Shares of companies listed on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) index — Kaspi.kz (+6.6%), Kazatomprom (+8.7%) and ForteBank (+15.5%) — were the main…
The value of Kazakhstan’s net international reserves reached $55.5 billion at the end of September 2025, according to data released by the National Bank. Soaring gold prices played a major role in the increase. The reserves increased by $3.3 billion (6.3%) month-on-month. Since the start of the year, they have…
In the first six months of 2025, Kazakhstan experienced a significant outflow of money, with 321.2 billion tenge (about $590 million) transferred abroad through international money transfer systems, according to a report from the National Bank. In contrast, only about $190 million was sent into Kazakhstan from overseas, highlighting a…
Binance Kazakhstan plans to integrate its services into the country’s existing payment infrastructure. The company’s general manager Nurkhat Kushimov told Kursiv.media that users will be able to pay with crypto via QR codes at banking terminals. «Binance has its own tool, Binance Pay, which works on the same principle as…
The Alem Crypto Fund has launched in Kazakhstan. It was established by the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development and is managed by Qazaqstan Venture Group. The fund is registered with the Astana International Financial Centre. The fund’s primary objective is to invest in long-term digital assets and create…
The first regulated stablecoin pegged to the offshore Chinese yuan, AxCNH, has launched in Kazakhstan. The move is part of China’s effort to utilize blockchain to streamline cross-border trade and reduce its reliance on the U.S. dollar, according to Yang Guang, chief technology officer of China’s state-owned blockchain network, Conflux,…
Kazakhstan has launched its first tenge-pegged stablecoin for use in cryptocurrency exchanges and crypto card payments. The pilot project was rolled out under the National Bank’s regulatory sandbox. National Bank Chairman Timur Suleimenov announced that Intebix, one of the sandbox participants, will issue the tenge-backed stablecoin in partnership with Solana,…
Kazakhstan’s bank loan portfolios are expanding much faster than deposits. New minimum reserve requirements taking effect in September are designed to cool this growth. Kursiv Research reviewed the latest statistics (as of Aug. 1, 2025) to assess banks’ preparedness for the new rules and identify which are most and least…
Artificial intelligence may be reshaping industries, but it is not yet ready to replace stock market analysts, according to Erlan Abdikarimov, head of research at Freedom Finance Global. «The stock market is too complex to hand over entirely to algorithms,» Abdikarimov said. He explained that effective use of AI requires…
As India celebrates Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 75th birthday today, curiosity grows about his wealth and background. Born on Sept. 17, 1950, in Vadnagar in the western Indian state of Gujarat, Modi rose from humble beginnings to become India’s prime minister for three consecutive terms. His journey is often portrayed…
About 50% of regular deposits are under $27,000, according to the Kazakhstan Deposit Insurance Fund (KDIF). According to the fund’s methodology, there are three types of retail deposits denominated in tenge: mass (up to 15 million tenge), medium (from 15 million to 50 million tenge) and large (over 50 million…
BNK Commercial Bank — formerly the microfinance organization BNK Finance Kazakhstan and recently transformed into a bank — has received a written directive from Kazakhstan’s Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) for violating prudential ratios, the agency reported. The former MFO received its banking license on…
Analysts at the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan (AFK) have significantly raised their one-year forecast for the dollar to 573 tenge, up from 548.5 in the previous outlook — a deterioration of 24.5 tenge for the local currency, according to an AFK statement. They have also slightly downgraded their forecast…
