According to EDB forecasts, Kazakhstan’s economy will grow by more than 7% at the end of this year and the pace will speed up to 8.6% in 2012.

Kazakhstan’s GDP growth will total 8.6% and inflation - 6% in 2012, the Eurasian Development Bank projected in its «CIS Macromonitor» reports. According to EDB, due to the continuing favorable external environment for the commodities market as well as support for domestic consumer demand, the bank expects the positive trend to continue in the economic development of Kazakhstan for the middle term. At the same time, the report says that, to date, the unresolved issue of asset quality in the banking sector is one of the major problems of Kazakhstan’s economy. It is also noted in the report that «the government of Kazakhstan has been committed to tackling the problem of cleaning the banks’ balance sheets for years. This year, the country has planned to establish a distressed assets fund, where the banks would be able to transfer about 900 billion tenge of assets in the form of problem loans, primarily secured by real estate. The tax for writing-off bad loans is expected to be cancelled, which will also be a step towards a healthier banking system. The National Bank expects the issue of bad loans to be resolved within 1.5-2 years».



 

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