Banks in April 2012 - Lending remains constrained by bad loans, lack of capital

Kazakh banks continued to diverge, with differences widening between the ‘bad’ (the three restructured) banks and the ‘good’ banks as well as within each group. Lending by ‘good’ banks in April was more brisk than in the months before, but is hardly a beginning of trend. Sber and Tsesna remain the fastest growing lenders, while the large banks like KKB, CenterCredit and ATF are cautious. Asset quality continues to deteriorate. Among the bad banks, Alliance and Temir are struggling for relevance while BTA heads towards another restructuring. In April BTA’s capital deficit widened from less than $3bn to over $7bn after the one of its notes was accelerated.