The Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFM) and the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) held a meeting with bank leaders to discuss the issue of reducing the population's debt burden. The mechanisms for involving banks' funds in lending to the real sector were also discussed with the participation of the leadership of the National Holding "Baiterek." This was reported by the press service of ARDFM on Saturday, February 15, 2025.
During the meeting, the discussion focused on how banks are considering individual plans to reduce the level of problematic consumer loans. "The work on implementing effective procedures for restructuring problematic consumer loans will continue, with priority measures aimed at assisting citizens who are in difficult life situations or belong to socially vulnerable categories," the statement said.
To prevent banks from granting loans to borrowers without sufficient income, measures to tighten requirements for assessing borrowers' creditworthiness and to limit the growth of debt burdens for citizens with overdue payments will be considered, ARDFM reported. Additional regulatory and legislative measures will be studied to limit the accumulation of problematic loans by banks among the population.
Meeting participants discussed approaches to creating a loan guarantee fund for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based on the "Damu" fund. Discussions with banks regarding the conditions necessary for participation in the guarantee system and ensuring the availability of guarantees from the fund for a larger number of business entities will continue.
"To engage banks' funds in lending to the real sector, a decision was made to enhance the status and authority of the project office. The work of the project office will strengthen interagency cooperation and will focus on financing large investment and infrastructure projects through the mechanism of syndicated lending based on the principles of equal participation of banks and the holding companies of 'Baiterek,'" the statement noted.