Official data on non-performing loans is only the tip of the iceberg and drastic action is needed to stop the mountains of debt from dragging Kazakhstan’s economy into a lengthy recession, warns KazInvestBank’s chief executive, Adnan Ally Agha.
Kazakhstan’s stocks declined the most in almost a month, led by commodity producers, as the price of copper sank and oil dropped to a two-week low.
Two international banking industry associations appealed to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to ensure that Kazakhstan’s troubled banks exclude trade finance debt from restructuring, Reuters reported on Friday.
BTA Bank, Kazakhstan’s largest lender by assets, saw losses expand to 1.5 trillion tenge ($9.9 billion) in the first half, the country’s financial regulator said, citing preliminary data.
Bad debts rise to new highs; Investors tire of mounting problems
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp., a maker of ferroalloys and iron ore in Kazakhstan, pulled out of a $910 million rail project to connect its plants to China after failing to reach an agreement with the central Asian nation.
Kazakhstan's most prominent uranium industry figure, whose arrest has alarmed foreign investors in Central Asia's biggest economy, is in poor health and requires urgent medical attention, his wife said on Friday.
Uncertainty around the bank’s financial situation and the lack of progress in negotiating a restructuring agreement.
