Unspent Government Funds Will Be Allocated To Economic Stabilisation

    Unspent funds from the country’s USD 10 billion account earmarked in the National Bank on the account of the Samruk-Kazyna welfare fund will be allocated towards stabilising the economy and financial system of the country, said the Chairman of the fund Kairat Kelimbetov at a national business forum in Almaty.
    "Reserved finances of USD 2 billion on the Samruk-Kazyna account in the National Bank have enabled us to establish the possibility of further funding”, said Kairat Kelimbetov.
    USD 10 billion at a rate of 120 tenge per dollar or 1 trillion 75 billion tenge had originally been allocated as part of the state's anti-crisis program. So far, 875 billion tenge of this has been utilised.
    In particular, 480 billion tenge (USD 4 billion) was allocated to second-tier banks including 120 billion tenge spent on Kazkommertsbank and the same on Halyk Bank. "We have become the owners of nearly 20% of the shares in these two banks, plus we allocated some money for the refinancing of certain projects within these banks," explained Kairat Kelimbetov.
    In addition, the Chairman of the fund stated that 212 billion tenge was used to purchase a 75% stake in BTA Bank and 24 billion tenge was placed on deposit at Alliance Bank. A total of 480 billion tenge is located in banks, explained the head of Samruk Kazyna.
    He also stated that 120 billion tenge was aimed at supporting small and medium enterprises (SME) which is the third tranche, organised by co-financing second tier banks.
    In addition, said Kairat Kelimbetov, 120 billion tenge was directed towards refinancing mortgage loans as a result of which almost 30 thousand families were able to lower their interest rates from 16% to 9% and 11% with nearly a third of them having been able to reduce their mortgage payments.
    Finally, 120 billion tenge was directed to the formation of authorized capital of the Kazakhstan Development Bank, from who financing is expected to begin for industrial infrastructure projects, which have been identified in the strategy of industrial-innovative development of Kazakhstan.
    "The remaining unspent funds amount to 240 billion tenge, of which 33 billion has already been earmarked for supporting the construction sector. We have identified 128 housing units in need of support. Completion of construction is scheduled for the end of 2009 and for 2010 until 2011", concluded Kairat Kelimbetov, according to Kazakhstan Today.