Kazakhstan’s commercial banking sector experienced a massive surge in client funding in June, yet escalating credit risks and the accounting impact of state aid repayments have dampened overall industry profitability. While banks absorbed 1.8 trillion tenge in corporate and retail deposits during June, the sector’s cumulative first-half net profit declined…
It was in 1930 that John Maynard Keynes envisioned a future where, thanks to technology, people in developed countries would work as little as 15 hours each week. By the time his prediction was supposed to have become reality, however, the shorter workweek had not materialized. Keynes was broadly right…
The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has added digital assets to the list of eligible investment instruments under its Investment Tax Residency Programme (ITRP). Foreign investors can now qualify for a long-term investor visa and tax residency in Kazakhstan by investing in digital assets through AIFC-licensed platforms. Previously, participants in…
Freedom Yatırım Menkul Değerler A.Ş., part of Freedom Holding Corp. (NASDAQ: FRHC), which operates more than 200 offices across over 20 countries in North America, Europe and Asia, has received its operating license from the Capital Markets Board of Türkiye (CMB), becoming the first foreign brokerage firm with broad authorization…
The first data center under the Data Center Valley project, which Kazakhstan is developing jointly with NVIDIA and Firebird AI, is scheduled to be commissioned in June 2027, Kazakhtelecom CEO Bagdat Mussin said at a meeting chaired by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov. According to Mussin, construction of the first…
The Gornyak Artel, a gold mining company operating in Kazakhstan’s Abay region, reported 8 billion tenge ($15.4 million) in profit in 2025, up 2.3% from the previous year. The company is owned by Liechtenstein citizen Adrian Roman Rheinberger. Gornyak is a subsidiary of gold mining company Akzhal Gold Resources. Its…
Chinese companies are considering establishing production facilities in Stepnogorsk, Akmola region, for drones, light two-seat helicopters and renewable energy equipment. The projects are part of a package of joint Kazakhstan-China initiatives involving a total of $70 million in investment. A memorandum of understanding was signed by the Akmola region administration,…
Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG) has aquired a 50% stake in Shygys Operating LLP. The new company was established on Aug. 6, 2026, to develop the Shygys oil and gas project in the Aktobe region. According to data from the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), KMG holds 50%…
Kazakhstan’s international reserves showed a positive trend in July 2026. According to the National Bank’s latest statistics, gross international reserves rose by 3.05% over the month to reach $63.7 billion as of Aug. 1. The increase followed a sharp decline a month earlier. In June, gross international reserves fell by…
The earlier a young family obtains a home of its own, the more likely it is to have more children, according to Lyazzat Ibragimova, CEO of Otbasy Bank, the sole bank implementing housing construction savings system in Kazakhstan. Ibragimova shared the findings of an international study at a recent government briefing. She said…
In highly polarized media landscapes, the specific television news channels households watch can fundamentally shape their economic expectations, according to a study published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR). Investigating Turkey’s deeply divided media environment during a period of high inflation, the research reveals that political segmentation erodes…
Freedom Holding Corp. reported an increase in revenue and its customer base for the first quarter of fiscal 2027, ended June 30, 2026. The holding’s total revenue reached $732.9 million, compared with $524 million in the same period a year earlier. The growth was driven by higher interest and commission…
Kazakhstan-China Pipeline (KCP), which operates the Atasu-Alashankou and Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil pipelines, reported a 26% decline in net profit in 2025, according to its financial statements. The company’s net profit fell to 27 billion tenge (approximately $52 million) from 36.5 billion tenge a year earlier. Revenue declined 13.3%, from 87.9 billion…
The overpayment on a 3 million tenge (about $6,500) loan from Zaman Bank for five years is 3.62 million tenge, according to a Threads user named nur.kanatuly.kz. «Islamic Bank Zaman-Bank JSC. Islamic finance. Just for fun, I calculated it in their mobile app: Loan amount: 3 million tenge. Interest on…
Kazakh company Esil-Mining plans to begin producing approximately 1 million tons of wolframite ore annually at the Aksoran deposit in the Aiyrtau district of North Kazakhstan region by 2028, Qazba.kz reports, citing the company’s Potential Impact Report (PIR) based on an updated mining plan. The sole owner of Esil-Mining is…
KazMunayGas Karachaganak, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas (KMG), plans to reduce capital expenditures on the Karachaganak project by nearly threefold in 2027, to 10.9 billion tenge (about $23 million) from 29.96 billion tenge. The plans are outlined in the company’s financial statements. The…
The Development Bank of Kazakhstan (DBK) is exploring financing options for building and opening a Lotte hotel in Almaty. The bank has reported that the tourism project is now in the document-collection phase ahead of its initial review. Project ownership The project’s borrower is Sensata Invest. The company is jointly…
Nearly a year after receiving its banking license, KMF Bank reported a decline in profit on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE). In the first half of 2026, the financial institution posted net profit of 4.3 billion tenge (approximately $9 million), down from 4.7 billion tenge a year earlier. According to…
At the beginning of the third quarter, Kazakhstan’s services sector Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 54.1, reaching its highest level in 13 months. Despite a significant increase in new orders, the sector recorded a slowdown in business expectations and continued job cuts. Activity trends and demand factors According to…
Kazakhstan’s first licensed cryptocurrency exchange, Pax Finance, has announced its integration with the mobile app of Alatau City Bank, which is owned by the country’s richest businessman, Vyacheslav Kim. The integration allows the bank’s clients to fund their Pax Finance accounts directly from their bank cards through the banking app.…
Kazakhstan’s total public and publicly guaranteed debt reached 40.9 trillion tenge (approximately $86 billion) as of July 1, 2026. During the second quarter, the total increased by 1.84 trillion tenge, or 4.7%. Public and publicly guaranteed debt stood at 39.1 trillion tenge as of April 1, according to the Ministry…
U.K.-based Ferro-Alloy Resources, which is developing the Balasausqandiq vanadium deposit in Kazakhstan’s Kyzylorda region, has submitted applications for funding from U.S. government agencies and has begun exploring the extraction of the rare earth element yttrium as a potential byproduct. The company disclosed the plans in a strategic update published on…
State-guaranteed deposits at Kazakhstani banks undergoing resolution with support from shareholders and, where applicable, the government will remain fully protected, according to Dauren Salimbayev, deputy chairman of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM). Salimbayev outlined the country’s proposed framework for resolving insolvent banks during a…
China and Kazakhstan are expanding cooperation in the financial sector. Representatives of Kazakhstan’s National Bank, Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) and National Payment Corporation of Kazakhstan held a series of meetings with representatives of the People’s Bank of China, the National Financial Regulatory Administration, the…
