Baku, Azerbaijan, April 17
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend: Kazakh National Bank is considering the possibility of a ten-fold increase of the minimum capital requirements for banks' equity, Novosti-Kazakhstan reported.
"One of our proposals is to increase the minimum capital of banks to 100 billion tenge (182.03 teng = $1) by 2019," Kazakh National Bank's Chairman Kairat Kelimbetov said at a press conference in Almaty on April 17.
Currently minimum capital requirement for Kazakh banks amounts to 10 billion tenge.
Kelimbetov believes that some 15-20 large banks will meet these requirements by that time. Meanwhile small banks will be forced to merge. Moreover, small banks will be allowed to transform into credit unions and microfinance institutions within the draft concept of financial sector development until 2030.
The head of National Bank explained that a number of financial organizations are expected to enter Kazakh market after 2020 and the consolidation of Kazakh banks will make them more competitive in this situation.
"If we finally join the WTO in 2014..., the transition period will be completed in 2020, and subsidiaries of large financial corporations will be able to open their businesses in Kazakhstan", - he said.
Currently 38 banks are operating in Kazakhstan.