Overview of Key Events in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the First Quarter of 2026
In the first quarter of 2026, the following events took place in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the areas of insurance (guarantee) of bank deposits, liquidation, financial rehabilitation and bankruptcy of credit institutions, as well as the functioning of the banking market:
1. Information on the state of the deposit guarantee fund was published
By the end of 2025, the Kazakhstan Deposit Guarantee Fund (KDGF) increased its special reserve to more than 1.5 trillion tenge. As of 1 March 2026, the volume of the KDGF special reserve amounted to 1.6 trillion tenge.
Source2. The new Law “On Banks and Banking Activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan” entered into force
On 19 March 2026, the new Law “On Banks and Banking Activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan” entered into force. The main changes concerned the strengthening and deepening of bank supervision (conduct supervision), the introduction of a new licensing system (basic and universal licenses), the provision of an opportunity for banks with a universal license to conduct Islamic banking operations (Islamic “windows”), as well as the introduction of new approaches to dealing with potentially problematic banks, including reducing the period for starting payout of guarantee compensation from 35 to 20 working days from the date of revocation of a bank’s license.
Source Download the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Banks and Banking Activity in the Republic of Kazakhstan”3. Guidelines on participation in resolution procedures and payment of guaranteed deposits were approved
As part of the adoption of the new banking legislation, on 26 March 2026 three playbooks were approved on participation in resolution procedures and payment of guaranteed deposits within the established mandate:
- Guidelines on the withdrawal of assets from the special reserve, including in cases of insufficiency, for the payment of guarantee compensation and covering the gap in P&A transactions;
- Guidelines on the Fund’s participation in conducting a P&A transaction of a bank under resolution to another bank(s) or a bridge bank;
- Guidelines on organizing the payment of guarantee compensation.
4. New measures were adopted to manage risks related to banks’ deposit policies
To strengthen mechanisms for managing risks related to banks’ deposit policies, the following measures were agreed:- increasing the sensitivity of the systemic risk contribution to banks’ deposit rates exceeding the market level (from 1 January 2026);
- extending a flexible “interest rate cap” (market rate + spread) to all banks with a proportional increased contribution for exceeding it (previously this measure applied only to less-than-well-capitalized banks) (from 1 March 2026).
5. The Kazakhstan Deposit Guarantee Fund is conducting a pre-project study to digitalize the compensation payout process
In order to ensure access for the majority of depositors to their deposits within 7 days (in line with international standards), the Fund, together with an external consultant, is conducting a pre-project study to develop effective solutions for digitalizing the compensation payout process.
6. A brief analytical review of the retail deposit market for Q4 2025 was published
According to the document, the total volume of household deposits amounted to 28.3 trillion tenge, showing a quarterly increase of 6.0%. The main inflow came from tenge-denominated deposits, which increased by 7.4% to 23.4 trillion tenge, while foreign currency deposits decreased to 4.9 trillion tenge (-0.4%). The level of de-dollarization reached a historical maximum of 82.7%, while the share of foreign currency deposits decreased to 17.3%. The total number of depositor accounts as of 1 January 2026 amounted to 224.9 million, increasing by 14.5% over the quarter.
Within the deposit portfolio structure, non-term deposits dominate with a share of 57.4% (16.2 trillion tenge); however, savings deposits showed the highest growth rate, increasing by 11.8% to 3.8 trillion tenge. Market concentration remains consistently high: the top 5 banks account for 79.5% of all retail deposits. The average deposit per depositor (excluding inactive accounts) amounted to 1.2 million tenge at year-end. The share of deposits not exceeding the maximum guarantee limit of the Kazakhstan Deposit Guarantee Fund amounted to 90.2% of the total deposit volume in the system.
Download the Brief Analytical Review of the Retail Deposit Market for Q4 20257. In Q1 2026, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan kept the base rate at 18% per annum
During the reporting period, the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan twice (23 January and 18 March 2026) decided to keep the base rate at 18.0% per annum with a corridor of +/- 1 percentage point. The decisions were based on the results of the forecasting round, updated estimates of key macroeconomic indicators, and the balance of inflation risks.
SourceOverview of key events in Q1 2026
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