Kazakhstan small business loan demand cools as applications rise just 1.2%

September 17, 2026 at 11:18 AM2 min

This digest was compiled by AI from multiple sources — links to the originals are below.

Kazakhstan's small business loan applications rose only 1.2% year-on-year to 1.8 million in the first half of 2026, down from 11.7% growth a year earlier, according to the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan. New lending to small businesses still grew 21.2% to 4.6 trillion tenge over the same period. The slowdown reflects high financing costs, tax changes, and revised state support programs.

Key Facts

Small business loan applications in Kazakhstan rose 1.2% year-on-year to 1.8 million in H1 2026, compared with 11.7% growth a year earlier.
New bank lending to small businesses grew 21.2% year-on-year to 4.6 trillion tenge in H1 2026.
The average approval rate for small business loan applications increased from 32.8% to 33.6%.
The share of small businesses with critical financial condition fell from 38.9% to 33.8%.
The average interest rate on small business loans was 24.5% in H1 2026, up from 24.3% a year earlier, but declined from 26.5% in January to 22.8% in June.

Demand Slowdown

The number of small business loan applications in Kazakhstan rose only 1.2% year-on-year to 1.8 million in the first half of 2026, according to the Association of Financiers of Kazakhstan. This compares with an 11.7% increase in the same period a year earlier. Applications fell for two consecutive quarters, declining 4.5% quarter-on-quarter in Q1 and a further 0.8% in Q2. The Association of Financiers attributes the cooling demand to high financing costs, business adaptation to tax legislation changes, and revised parameters of state support programs, including the Өрлеу program.

Lending Growth and Portfolio

Despite weak application growth, new bank lending to small businesses increased 21.2% year-on-year to 4.6 trillion tenge in H1 2026. The small business loan portfolio grew 12.7% in the first half to 9.1 trillion tenge, and by 32.7% year-on-year. Small businesses accounted for 46.8% of total corporate debt, up from 43.7% a year earlier, remaining the largest segment by portfolio size. The share of overdue debt in the small business portfolio rose from 3.4% to 4.5%.

Credit Conditions

The average approval rate for small business loan applications increased from 32.8% to 33.6%, while the overall business approval rate rose from 41% to 44.1%. The share of small businesses with critical financial condition declined from 38.9% to 33.8%. The average interest rate on small business loans was 24.5% in H1 2026, slightly up from 24.3% a year earlier. However, the cost of new loans fell from 26.5% in January to 22.8% in June, following the base rate reduction.