ASTANA (Novosti-Kazakhstan) – The volume of bank loan is expected to increase by 12-15% in 2012, head of National bank of Kazakhstan Grigoriy Marchenko declared.

The average rate of bank crediting increased by 11.2% from the beginning of year, according to the data of National Bank.

Experts estimate that the increase of the long-term loaning is one of the trends of the market. This area has increased to 6,522 billion tenge. The market also witnesses the increase of the competition between foreign and Kazakh banks. In general, the interest rate in local banks for SMEs is 22% and consumer loans, 25-28%. Foreign participants offer loans at 1.5-2% lower interest rates. But soon the situation will change.

The Kazakh banking system has sufficient liquidity in the short term. In the worst case scenario, intervention from the National Bank is likely. At present banks are still keeping up with payment schedules without the state’s help. Risks will increase if the banks continue taking large loans.

The amount of overdue loans in the loan portfolio is not critical, but can contribute to instability in the medium term. Due to large construction loans a slow down in the construction sector due to lower mortgage financing rates has affected some banks’ balance sheets.