Slowly, Kazakhstan’s banking sector is coming back to life. Non-performing loans (NPLs), which have been running at 30% on a system-wide basis since 2011, are gradually coming down and the regulator’s target is 10% by the end of 2015.
All the measures needed for banks to restructure and clean up their balance sheets are now in place, say bankers. Consolidation is also under way and is likely to increase in pace as banks adhere to new requirements to hold minimum capital reserves of Tg100bn ($550m) by 2019. This is 10 times existing levels and only five out of 38 banks in the country currently have capital levels of this order – Kazkommertsbank (KKB), Halyk Bank, Bank CenterCredit, Sberbank Kazakhstan and ATF Bank.
