Galim Khussainov
Inflation and the tengeBankingLending and mortgagesTaxationEconomy and public policyManagement

Lending and mortgages · 1 min read

Structural Problems in Lending: Remarks at CFO Summit 2025

Translated from Russian with the help of AI. Original: Russian version

Kazakhstan's lending system faces four structural problems: banks' high profits from regulatory arbitrage, a deteriorating institutional environment for conscientious borrowers, a limited collateral base, and difficulties in assessing borrowers' solvency. Without removing these barriers, full-fledged development of lending remains unlikely.

Kazakhstan's lending system faces a number of structural problems, and without solving them, its development will remain difficult:

  1. Banks' high profitability, driven by regulatory arbitrage, reduces their incentive to lend actively.
  2. The institutional environment for conscientious borrowers is deteriorating as enforcement measures against problem debtors are tightened.
  3. The collateral base is limited: subsoil use rights and land plots in key sectors (subsoil use, agriculture) cannot be accepted by banks as security.
  4. Assessing solvency is problematic: the shadow sector and the splitting up of businesses make it hard to analyze borrowers quickly and properly.

Without removing these fundamental barriers, full-fledged development of lending remains unlikely.

First published on the @galimschannel Telegram channel

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