Problems of the financial sector of Kazakhstan to be solved urgently – IMF

Almaty. February 8. Silkroadnews – Problems of the financial sector of Kazakhstan are to be solved urgently, Mark Horton, IMF Mission Chief for Kazakhstan and Assistant Director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Middle East and Central Asia Department, believes, KazTAG writes.

“We see some challenges the authorities face. The first one is the financial sector, where the banking sector got weaker over the past 7 years and became even worse with the economic slowdown and tenge devaluation”, he noted.

“We believe, these problems within the financial sector are to be addressed urgently. Banks must recognize non-performing loans on their balance sheets. If required banks should also raise additional capital”, M. Horton suggests.
With this he also said there is no large-scale crisis forecasted for banking sector of Kazakhstan.

“I do not think we can expect some sort of large-scale banking crisis (in Kazakhstan - Silkroadnews). Yes, the problems mounted. At the end they get recognized. (...) The banks are to play the role they are assigned to raise savings, provide loans to investors and restore economic growth. Banks should write off non-performing loans. They also should have more capital”, the IMF representative said.