(bne) The global economic crisis is already slowing growth in Kazakhstan and, together with the shutdown in international financial markets, this makes for gloomy prospects for the banking sector in 2009. For the next few months at least, the main source of optimism is the government’s injection of $5bn into the sector.
(EurasiaNet) - Kazakhstan expects to put the final touches on its fiscal stabilization plan by November 25. One of the government’s top priorities is shoring up the country’s wobbly banking sector.
(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.
(Reuters) - Kazakhstan agreed an at least $3.47-billion bailout package on Tuesday to help banks cope with a deepening economic crisis and ease public concern, and announced political reforms to head off opposition criticism.
(SRI) - Kazakhstan’s plan to inject liquidity into some of the country’s largest banks may help the banks avoid further credit cuts, Reuters reported on Friday citing a senior Standard & Poor’s analyst.
(bne) - Troika Dialog completed its acquisition of Almaty-based Almex Asset Management just weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers plunged international financial markets into freefall.
(SRI) - Two days after the Kazakh government announced its intention to take stakes in the country’s most important banks, BTA Bank, the country’s largest bank said that it will receive a cash injection of up to USD 2.3 billion from the government.
(SRI) - Three of Kazakhstan’s four largest banks have agreed to sell minority stakes to the government, as the country attempts to fight off the global credit crunch and prevent a systemic collapse of its banking sector.
(SRI) - The combined net profit of all 36 banks operating in Kazakhstan for the first nine months decreased by 61.5 percent to KZT 71.0 billion (USD 592 million) compared to the same period last year.
(SRI) - Kazakh government offered to take equity stakes of up to $5 billion in the country’s four largest banks to prevent potential collapse of the banking sector during the global financial crisis.