On 5 June the
governor of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Қазақстан
Республикасы Ұлттық Банкінің - NBRK) gave journalists an update on the
status of a draft law that the central bank is preparing for parliament that
would introduce a single provider of ATM processing services (единый
процессинговый центр – ЕПЦ) for all of Kazakhstan, to be owned 50% (plus 1
share) by the central bank and the remaining 50% (less 1 share) by the
commercial banks.
Grigoriy A. Marchenko
(Григорий Александрович Марченко), governor of the central bank from
1999 to 2004 and from 2009 to the present, told a press conference that the
draft law, once consultation with the banks and with various government
ministries and departments is complete, should be ready for parliament by 1
July. He noted that four large banks have
indicated their opposition to the plan: Kazkommertsbank, Halyk Bank, Sberbank of
Russia (Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
Already in a press
conference held on 9 April the governor had indicated that while the majority
of small and medium-sized banks in Kazakhstan Kazakhstan
Two days earlier,
on 3 June the business portal Kapital.kz published the results of a
survey it had carried out among businesses concerning the proposed unified ATM
transaction processing system. More than
30% of respondents predicted that the creation of such a system and a reduction
in ATM fees would force banks to compensate by raising rates for other
services. Similarly, 26.4% of those
polled said the creation of the system would lead to a worsening of service for
ATM customers. In addition, 18.6% of
respondents thought the plan was a good idea because it would lead to lower ATM
fees, 15.4% felt that the system would lead to an increase in the number of
ATMs in Kazakhstan
Sources:
Forbes Kazakhstan editorial against the
proposal: Не ЕПЦ
единым, by Константин Горожанкин, генеральный менеджер CNP Processing GmbH
(March 2013)
In other news, on
June 3 a mission of the International Monetary Fund completed a visit to Kazakhstan
[...]
3. In
the financial sector, ongoing efforts to address stability risks should include
enhanced supervision and macroprudential surveillance. We welcome the decision
to exit from state ownership in troubled banks. To bolster the stability of the
banking system as a whole and to avoid the emergence of new risks, the exit
should take place in a fully transparent manner. Meanwhile, private sector
credit growth remains relatively weak overall, yet consumer lending is
expanding rapidly from a low base at around 40 percent year-on-year. The
authorities must ensure that risk management and lending practices are sufficiently
robust to avoid exacerbating the NPLs problem. In this regard, further
strengthening of supervision and macroprudential tools is crucial, including by
bolstering on-site bank supervision, enhancing liquidity and credit risk
assessments, stepping up the Early Warning System, and ensuring that banks have
viable business plans.
4. In
view of limited progress on the resolution of NPLs, the authorities are
adopting a more proactive posture. Despite the introduction of new measures in
2012, NPLs remain high at around 30 percent. Progress has been limited by
banks’ unwillingness to sell assets in the expectation of a price recovery, the
complexity of the loan-restructuring process, and social constraints in
resolving mortgages. In view of this, we welcome the authorities’ consideration
of a more flexible approach to the design of the Problem Loan Fund, to make it
more attractive to banks and to increase its size if necessary. We particularly
welcome the introduction of ceilings on NPLs and urge the authorities to
enforce these strictly and on a consolidated basis, while ensuring adequate
provisions. Extending the tax exemption for banks and buyers of distressed debt
beyond 2013 should also help.
5. The
monetary policy stance remains appropriate. Notwithstanding recent
hikes in administered utility prices, inflationary pressures and growth in
monetary aggregates have been relatively contained. With projected headline
inflation hovering around the midpoint of the objective range (6-8 percent) and
core inflation stable, the National Bank of Kazakhstan (NBK) is expected to
keep its policy interest rate on hold in the coming months. This stance may
need to be reevaluated if excess liquidity in the banking system translates
into more rapid private sector credit expansion or if fiscal policy turns out
looser than currently expected.
6.
Discussions with the NBK clarified the positive steps that are being taken to
enhance the regulation of liquidity in the banking system. In view of limited
instruments for efficiently managing the buildup of excess liquidity in recent
years, the NBK has: (i) excluded banks’ cash on hand and correspondent accounts
in foreign currency from the reserve assets to assess more accurately the size
of tenge liquidity; and (ii) been more active in the provision of short-term
liquidity to banks through repo operations to smooth seasonal fluctuations in
liquidity conditions (e.g. relating to quarterly tax payments). Moreover, the
NBK plans to engage in more active open market operations (OMOs) for both the
provision and withdrawals of liquidity, through changes to its standing
facilitates and introduction of a new repo rate between the two standing
facilities’ interest rates.
[...]
Sources:
Original statement from IMF website: Republic of
Kazakhstan—2013 Article IV Consultation Concluding Statement of the IMF Mission
(2013-06-04)
Russian translation from NBRK website: Заключительное
заявление миссии МВФ 2013 г. (2013-06-04)
Kazakh translation from NBRK website: ХВҚ миссиясының
қорытынды мәлімдемесі, 2013 жылғы маусым (2013-06-04)
