Kazakhs earmark $21 bln to combat crisis - PM
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan plans to inject $21 billion into its economy to counter the impact of the global financial crisis and expects growth will be a lot slower next year, Prime Minister Karim Masimov said.

Banking havoc drives builders out of business
(TOL) - Why Central Asia’s biggest economy was hit early and hard by the credit crunch.

Kazakh pension system not ensure pension guarantee to its participants (Kazakhstan Today)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 21, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 20, 2008 (Reuters)

IMF: Kazakh economy on the right path
(AP) - A senior International Monetary Fund official has praised Kazakhstan, an early victim of the global credit crunch, for its handling of the crisis.

Kazakhstan’s cotton harvest fails to provide rich pickings
(EurasiaNet) - As the end of the harvest approaches, Kazakhstan expects the crop to be three quarters of last year’s, due to unfavorable weather and a crop replacement policy that was instituted to address the water issue.

South Korea’s Hyundai wins $300 mln Kazakh deal (Reuters)

Global financial crisis is leading to deep recession of the international economic system – Nazarbaev (Interfax)

USD 30 bln for Kazakhstan transport infrastructure development: Ministry of Transport (Kazinform)

Iran, Kazakhstan set up Business Council (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 19, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 19, 2008 (Reuters)

ADB to help Kazakhstan revive Silk Road, boost trade
(Reuters) - The Asian Development Bank will offer $700 million to Kazakhstan help improve parts of the ancient Silk Road and bolster trade between Asia and Europe.

Kazakhstan’s “New Silk Road” (The Economist)

Kazakh government embarks on drafting 2020 development program (Interfax)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 14, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 13, 2008 (Reuters)

Kazakhstan frees up $3 bln for cash-strapped banks
Kazakhstan will free up about $3 billion for its cash-strapped banks by cutting minimum reserve requirements to combat the global credit crunch.

Kazakhstan industrial output grows in October
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s statistical agency reported on Wednesday that industrial output increased 4.6 percent month-on-month in October.

International reserves declined: Kazakh National Bank (Kazinform)

Fitch comments on downgrading Kazkommertsbank’s ratings (Interfax)

Fitch rationale on downgrade on Kazakhstan’s BTA Bank (Cbonds.info)

Fitch rationale on downgrade of Kazakhstan’s Halyk Bank (Cbonds.info)

Kazakhstan increased grain exports (AgriMarket.Info)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 13, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 12, 2008 (Reuters)

“I think there should be significant movement in the next two weeks,” Masimov told a cabinet meeting on November 10. The prime minister added that the first benefits of a USD 15 billion stimulus package, announced in October, should become evident within days.

Masimov revealed that the government had hired Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan as consultants for its banking recapitalization program. Measures to improve banking liquidity include setting up a distressed asset fund with a capitalization of 52 billion tenge (USD 430 million) to purchase problem assets from banks, and spending up to USD 5 billion of government money to buy up to 25 percent in Kazakhstan’s four largest banks: Kazkommertsbank, BTA Bank, Halyk Bank and Alliance Bank. Agreement was reached with the banks on November 10, Masimov said.

Under the terms of the deal, USD 300 million will be spent buying shares in Kazkommertsbank, USD 2.3 billion in BTA Bank, USD 500 million in Halyk Bank and USD 370 million in Alliance Bank, making the government’s total outlay USD 3.47 billion. The size of the state’s ultimate stake in each bank was not immediately clear. The money is coming from a sovereign wealth fund under government control.

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Kazakh govt, banks agree $3.47 bln bailout package (Reuters)

Kazakh banks agree $3.4bn bail-out (Financial Times)

Fitch downgrades seven Kazakh financial institutions
(Interfax) - Fitch Ratings has downgraded the long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of seven Kazakh financial institutions: BTA Bank, Kazkommertsbank, Halyk Bank, ATF Bank, Development Bank of Kazakhstan, Astana Finance and KazAgroFinance.

Fitch revises Kazakh city of Astana’s LTFC outlook to negative (Morningstar)

Investors dig in for a tough year in Kazakhstan
(Reuters) - Western investors working in Kazakhstan are betting on business confidence to improve next year as they seek to withstand a deepening world financial crisis.

Kazakhstan expects 2008 current account surplus
(Reuters - Forbes) - Kazakhstan recorded a current account surplus of $10 billion in the first nine months of the year and expects to achieve a surplus for the whole of 2008, Central bank chairman Anvar Saidenov said.

SamrukKazyna to negotiate investment in Montenegro economy: Kazakh PM (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 12, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 11, 2008 (Reuters)

The Outlook on these ratings remains Negative. This follows today’s downgrade of the sovereign ratings, Fitch said in a press statement.

At the same time, the agency has affirmed the ratings of three other Kazakh banks: Alliance Bank, Bank Centercredit (BCC) and Temirbank.

The Outlook on Alliance remains Negative and that on BCC remains Evolving. The Outlook on Temir is revised to Negative from Evolving.

Fitch has also downgraded by one notch the Long-term IDRs of Moskommertsbank (the Russian subsidiary of KKB) and BTA Bank (Russia) (an affiliate of BTA), with their Outlooks remaining Negative. The ratings of two other BTA affiliates - Bank BTA-Kazan and BTA Bank (Georgia) - are affirmed, removed from Rating Watch and assigned Negative Outlooks.

Finally, Fitch has downgraded by one notch the Individual ratings of BTA and KKB and states that there is now also downward pressure on Halyk’s Individual rating.

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Stung by credit ratings downgrades and falling oil prices, the oil-producing Central Asian state has been struggling to cope with the impact of the global financial crisis.

There have been no outward signs of protest or panic among the former Soviet republic’s 16 million people but the government is worried that confidence in the system is eroding.

Under a partial nationalisation plan, the government will buy into the country’s four biggest banks, giving the sector a much-needed breathing space.

Fitch Ratings agency said it was concerned “the domestic economy’s growth prospects are impacted by a likely global recession, lower oil prices and a sustained near closure of capital markets which has led to a sharply lower credit growth.”

The government also announced political reforms intended to counter opposition criticism before it takes over the one-year chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Europea’s main human rights watchdog, in 2010.

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State support helps ease pressure on Kazakh banks’ credit ratings
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s plan to inject liquidity into some of the country’s largest banks may help the banks avoid further credit cuts.

Fitch downgrades Kazakhstan’s sovereign rating as global slowdown spreads
(Bloomberg) - Bulgaria, Hungary, Kazakhstan and Romania had their sovereign ratings cut as part of a review of 17 emerging-market economies, Fitch said in a statement today.

Kazakhstan may cut 2009 budget
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan may have to cut its budget expenditure next year if oil prices fall further and impose capital controls if it sees significant capital flight, a source in the government said on Friday.

Kazakh gold, forex reserves fall 4.2 percent to USD 21.02 billion in October (Dow Jones - FXStreet)

Kazakhstan, EU sign Protocol to bilateral textiles agreements (Kazinform)

National Bank of Kazakhstan: Exchange rates November 8-10, 2008 (Kazinform)

Indicators - November 7, 2008 (Reuters)

In June, S&P said it could downgrade Kazakh banks, struggling with a global liquidity crunch and domestic economic slowdown, if the decline in of their credit portfolio does not reverse itself.

Last month, the government said it would inject up to $5 billion into the country’s four largest banks to ease strains from global financial volatility and increase confidence in the sector.

“The risk of bank ratings downgrades which we have been talking about in the recent months has been significantly reduced by these steps, although not eliminated completely,” Reuters cited S&P banking analyst Ekaterina Trofimova.

The government has yet to announce details of the plan, and the banks need the approval of their shareholders.

So far, under the plan, BTA Bank, Kazakhstan’s largest bank, will receive USD 2.3 billion in exchange for an equity stake and debt, while Halyk Bank, number three, and Alliance Bank, number four, get USD 500 million each. Kazkommertsbank, the second largest bank, claimed a $300 million injection.

Trofimova told Reuters that S&P will closely watch how much of that money goes into different layers of capital such as common and preferred stock and subordinated debt, and how the injections measure against bad loans and upcoming debt repayments.

Kazakh banks, due to repay about $12 billion in foreign debt next year, could refinance or roll over at least 30 percent of that sum despite the liquidity squeeze, she said.

“But net capital outflow will still be significantly larger than in the last 12 months which will put considerable pressure on liquidity but should not destabilise the overall situation as long as deposits continue growing or at least remain stable.”

According to Trofimova, the government, which directly or indirectly controls a third of total corporate deposits, will play a key role in maintaining their stability.