ASTANA, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakhstan must become the leader on the regional financial market, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Thursday.
"Our strategic goal is to become the leader on the regional financial market, making the most of the potential accumulated by the country's financial sector," Nazarbayev told a forum of investment bankers in the country's commercial capital, Almaty.
Nazarbayev said that since the start of 2000, the Kazakh banking sector's aggregate capital had seen a seven-fold increase and banks' assets had grown 10-fold to $28 billion.
In the same period, corporate deposits in the banking sector increased four-fold to $12 billion, and deposits from private individuals reached $4 billion. The total amount of bank loans increased 14-fold to $16 billion.
"The Kazakh financial sector is proud of its savings pension system, having no analogues elsewhere in the former Soviet Union," Nazarbayev said. "The amount of pension savings has now reached $5 billion."
He said Kazakhstan's insurance sector was also making substantial progress.
"The regulatory framework of [Kazakhstan's] insurance market meets the principles and standards of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors. Since 2000, insurance companies' capital has increased 16-fold and their overall assets have grown nine-fold, which indicates growing confidence in the insurance sector," the president said.
"The National Bank's optimal monetary policy maintains inflation at a low rate and allows for the accumulation of gold and hard-currency reserves. These now amount to about $8 billion, and with the National Fund's assets taken into account, the country's international reserves total $14 billion," Nazarbayev said.
He added that Kazakhstan had been included in the World Bank's list of the top 20 most attractive countries in terms of investment and had credit ratings from the world's three largest international rating agencies.
