analysis
ANALYSIS: Banks still cautious about lending as Kazakh growth returns
(bne) - Optimism returned to Kazakhstan when commodity prices rose last year. Sustaining the recovery will require an upturn in bank lending, but a more cautious attitude to risk and tighter regulation of the sector are holding back the banks.
ANALYSIS: Eurasian Development Bank seeks to build funds, links
(bne) - 2010 is an important year for the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), according to its chairman Igor Finogenov. The EDB plans to grow its investment portfolio by over 50% and take in new members, and is managing the Eurasian Economic Community’s (EurAsEC) $10bn anti-crisis fund.
ANALYSIS: Kazakh government struggles to help airlines off EU blacklist
(bne) - The relegation of all but one Kazakhstan-registered airline to the EU’s air safety blacklist was a blow to national pride as well as a setback for the air transport sector. The government is now working to have Kazakh airlines removed from the list by the end of this year.
ANALYSIS: A thaw in Kazakhstan as real estate prices rise again
(bne) - Prices have at last bottomed out and started to rise again in Kazakhstan’s real estate market. For 2010, the forecast is a fragile recovery and the gradual completion of many part-finished construction projects.
ANALYSIS: Kazakhstan 2010: A transition year
(bne) - Kazakhstan’s economic performance in 2010 will be closely correlated to international macroeconomic developments and trends in world commodity markets.
Kazakhstan plans tighter regulation of financial sector
(bne) - Elena Bakhmutova, chairwoman of Kazakhstan’s Financial Supervision Agency, the AFN, discusses plans to strengthen regulation of the banking sector and their expected impact on the industry.
ANALYSIS: Stagnation in store for Kazakhstan’s banking sector
(bne) - Kazakhstan’s banking sector has been shored up by government cash, but this isn’t sustainable in the long run. Until new sources of funding can be tapped, the sector is in for a period of stagnation, a new report from Renaissance Capital says.
Central Asia’s electricity system falls apart
(bne) - Four of the five Central Asian countries have muddled along with an often unsatisfactory, yet workable, shared electricity system that was devised after the break-up of the Soviet Union. This year, however, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have finally been provoked into announcing their withdrawal from the shared grid.
ANALYSIS: Kazakhstan prepares for return of good old commercial banking
(bne) - Now that Kazakhstan’s economy is starting to revive, the country’s major banks are preparing for a resumption of growth in the sector - but a period of more cautious and conservative growth.
ANALYSIS: Residential real estate: Good days in Kazakhstan still another 2-3 years off
(bne) - Top bankers in Kazakhstan expect the residential real estate sector to recover in two to three years time when demand will once again outstrip supply.
