Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs 2026: Kazakhstan
Table of contents
In 2025, small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 97.3% of all enterprises in Kazakhstan. The share of employed in SMEs was 48.6% of the total employed population. The share of small and medium-sized businesses in the country's GDP in 2025 was 40.9%.
From 2014 to 2017, Kazakhstan saw an increase in lending to small and medium-sized businesses. In 2017-2019, the loan portfolio of small and medium-sized businesses decreased. And in 2025, the loan portfolio of small and medium-sized businesses continued to grow and grew by 18.6%, while loans to small and medium-sized businesses (during this period) also increased by 7.9% over the past year.
The interest rate on loans for small and medium-sized businesses fluctuated during the reporting period, gradually increasing from a record low of 11.5% in 2014 to 14.0% in 2016. In 2025, the rate was 20.0%, while the rate on loans to large enterprises was 17.4%. This increase is due to an increase in the base rate by the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Among non-bank sources of financing, leasing occupied the largest place in the market and gradually increased. In 2025, the volume of leasing increased by 14% compared to 2024. The development of leasing and the growth of its indicators are due to several reasons. Firstly, many industrial, transport, and especially agricultural enterprises have a growing need to upgrade and expand their fleet of machinery and equipment. Secondly, due to the inability of a significant part of industrial enterprises to accumulate their own funds. Thirdly, due to the lack of collateral in many enterprises. In addition, to reduce the risk of loan non-repayment, banks are tightening loan issuance procedures. The procedure for making lease payments is one of the advantages of leasing transactions. The contract can optimally take into account the interests of all parties to the transaction, since the amount and timing of payments are determined on the basis of a joint agreement.
The share of overdue loans with a maturity of more than 90 days (NPL) in bank portfolios of business loans and loans for small and medium-sized businesses increased in 2025 from 2.8% to 3.4%. Commercial banks comply with the requirements of the National Bank of Kazakhstan regarding the maximum allowable level of problem loans, which should not exceed more than 10% of the loan portfolio.
An important role in ensuring access to loans for small and medium-sized businesses is played by the government, which places funds in commercial banks to provide preferential loans to small and medium-sized businesses during a period of liquidity shortage in the market. The largest amount of funds provided by the government for lending to small and medium-sized businesses occurred in 2018. The main part of the loans are funds allocated in 2014-2016 to support small and medium-sized businesses in the manufacturing industry at a rate of 6% per annum, which are issued by banks on a renewable basis.
Since 2010, the state, with the help of the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund, has been providing subsidised interest rates and loan guarantees for small and medium-sized businesses under a single comprehensive programme (previously the state programme "Business Roadmap 2025", the National Entrepreneurship Development Project for 2021-2025). A new financial instrument, loan guarantees, gained popularity very quickly. At the same time, as of 01.01.2011, 3 surety agreements were concluded, whereas as of 01.01.2026, 76 919 agreements were concluded
Source: See Table 4.
The different categories of enterprises are provided in the Code on Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Kazakhstan and are based on the average annual number of employees and average annual revenues of companies (see Table 2).
Note: MCI (Monthly Calculated Index) is used to calculate pensions, benefits, fines, taxes, etc. in Kazakhstan.
Source: Code on Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Article 24.
SMEs make up 97.3% of all entities in Kazakhstan. As of the end of 2025, almost 2.4 million SMEs were registered in the country, including enterprises, individual entrepreneurs and farms. The major sectors of work among SMEs included wholesale and retail, services and agriculture.
Source: Agency for Strategic planning and reforms of the RK Bureau of National statistics
As of the end of 2025, SMEs employed 4.5 million people in Kazakhstan, or 48.6% of the total employed population in the country. SMEs produced a total output of KZT 104.8 trillion in 2025 and contributed 40.9% to the country’s GDP.
In 2025, new lending to SMEs (over the period) increased by 7.9% compared with last year, and the outstanding SME loans also increased by 18.6%. The share of SMEs in the portfolio of all business loans decreased from 57.3% to 52.5%. At the same time, the share of loans granted to SMEs in the total volume of business loans also increased by 17.8% in 2025.
Significant improvements in the operating environment, new product offerings, and development of digital channels and ecosystems have increased the SME loan portfolio and its share of the total business loan portfolio.
The National Bank of Kazakhstan conducts a quarterly survey to Banks’ managers who are responsible for the implementation of the general monetary policy and (or) risk management. The purpose of the survey is to assess trends in supply and demand of loan resources and risk management systems. According to the results of the survey, in 2007-09, terms for SME lending by banks became tougher. This was generally expressed through higher interest rates and collateral requirements. In 2010-13, when the economy was expanding rapidly, the amount of deposits in Kazakhstan doubled, and banks softened the terms for lending to SMEs. Since 2014, as the local currency has been depreciating, banks have reverted to a tough loan policy again.
This trend is also reflected in the interest rate data. In 2007-2009, interest rates for small and medium-sized businesses exceeded 14%. In 2010-2014, rates decreased, dropping to a minimum of 11.5% in 2014. Since then, interest rates have been rising and exceeded 14% in 2016. In 2023, we see that the interest rate has decreased to 12.6%. In 2024, it became 20.04%
Bank loans are the main source of external financing for SMEs. Among alternative sources of financing, other forms of debt financing prevail.
Since 2010, volumes of lease financing have increased steadily. In 2021, total leasing and hire purchases stood at KZT 491.6 billion, which is 2.6% more than in 2020.
The microfinance market in Kazakhstan is developing well. In 2012, the legislation “On Microfinance Organisations" was adopted, replacing the earlier “On Microcredit Organisations” law in Kazakhstan. This provided a strong growth impetus in the market. Microfinancial activity is now regulated by the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which has already registered 213 microfinance organisations. As of the end 2025, microfinance organisations provided over KZT 1 488 million in total microcredit for business purposes.
Until 2009, the maximum number of enterprises that overcame bankruptcy was 1 enterprise per year. In 2009, government measures to simplify the procedures for closing enterprises and resolving bankruptcy reduced the duration of these processes from 3.3 years to 1.5 years. As a result, the number of bankruptcies has increased from year to year over the past 10 years. In 2018, there was a maximum value of 3,493 bankruptcies. In 2025, there was a 135 decrease in the number of bankruptcies compared to 2024, amounting to 2,171 bankruptcies.
By the end of 2025, the share of loans with a debt of more than 90 days in bank portfolios increased compared to last year. The total volume of non-performing business loans decreased from 3.05% to 3.20%, while the volume of non-performing loans to SMEs increased from 2.8% to 3.4%. Thus, commercial banks, fulfilling the requirements of the National Bank of Kazakhstan regarding the maximum appropriate level of personal income, carry out high-quality work to reduce the volume of non-performing loans.
The government of Kazakhstan has been working to ensure a favourable business climate and engage more entrepreneurs to establish start-ups. To expand SMEs’ access to finance, a number of programmes are in place in the country to provide concessional lending, microfinance, subsidised interest rates, loan guarantees and grants to start a business. The main operator of financial support programmemes for SMEs is the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund.
The Unified Comprehensive Programme (ETCP) has been in operation since 2024 and was adopted by the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The implementation of the programme includes both central and local authorities, the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund and commercial banks. The types of support the programme offers include interest rate subsidies, loan guarantees, grants, and meets the basic needs of entrepreneurs, making it the most popular government programme.
Thus, in 2024, the following conditions were provided for under the programme:
To date, the subsidy instrument provides state support to business entities in accordance with the following regulatory legal acts:
1. Rules for subsidising part of the remuneration rate, approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 12/30/2025 No. 1176 "On Approval of the Unified Programme for Small Business Support "Isker Aimak" (hereinafter referred to as the EP Programme) (a subsidy tool with the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
2. Subsidy rules approved by Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 09/17/2024 No. 754 "On certain measures of state support for private Entrepreneurship" (hereinafter referred to as the Programme) (a subsidy tool with the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
3. The Rules for Providing State support to Private Entrepreneurship to Subjects of Internal Trade, approved by the Order of the Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 06/21/2024 No. 262-NK "On Approval of the Rules for Providing State Support to Private Entrepreneurship to Subjects of Internal Trade" (hereinafter referred to as the CBT Programme) (subsidy and guarantee instruments with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan);
4. Rules for subsidising interest rates on loans issued and leasing transactions made by second-tier banks, the Development Bank of Kazakhstan, and other legal entities engaged in leasing activities to foreign buyers of high-tech goods and services of Kazakhstani origin in the manufacturing industry, which are subject to insurance by the Export Credit Agency of Kazakhstan, taking into account accepted international obligations, approved by the order of the Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Trade and Integration of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated 30.09.2022 No. 389-NK (hereinafter referred to as the Trade Finance Programme) (a subsidy tool with the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
As of the end of 2025, 120,701 subsidy agreements were signed for a total amount of loans of 9,096 billion tenge. The amount of subsidies paid amounted to 280 billion tenge.
Guarantees are also provided with different conditions depending on the target segment:
for SME projects within the framework of Guarantee Fund 1, the maximum guarantee amount is up to 85% of the financing amount, but not more than 3.5 billion tenge. The maximum amount of financing is up to 7 billion tenge. The guarantee period is the financing period extended by 5 months. The cost of the guarantee is 1.5% of the guarantee amount, which is paid by the entrepreneur at a time and annually from the remaining amount of the guarantee issued.;
for large infrastructure projects under Guarantee Fund 2, the maximum guarantee amount is up to 30% of the project cost. The amount of financing is over 7 billion tenge. The warranty period is up to 20 years. The cost of the guarantee is 1.5% of the guarantee amount, which is paid by the entrepreneur at a time for the entire term of the guarantee.;
for subjects of the agro-industrial complex for the implementation of investment projects, the maximum guarantee amount is up to 50% of the loan amount, while for priority projects before the project is put into operation - up to 85% of the loan amount, but not more than 2,550 billion tenge, after the project is put into operation and the entrepreneur submits it as collateral to the lender, the amount of Guarantees are reduced to 50% of the loan amount, but not more than 1.5 billion tenge. The maximum loan amount is not more than 5 billion tenge. The term of the guarantee is not more than the term of the loan. The loan term is no more than 10 years. The cost per guarantee is 0.01% of the sum of the guarantee at a time;
for subjects of the agro-industrial complex for spring field and harvesting operations, the maximum guarantee amount is 85% of the loan amount, but not more than 1.275 billion tenge. The maximum loan amount is not more than 1.5 billion tenge. The guarantee period is the loan term extended by 4 months. The loan term is no more than 18 months. The cost per guarantee is 0.01% of the sum of the guarantee at a time;
Credit guarantees are rapidly becoming popular in the financial market of Kazakhstan as a new product. The number of signed guarantee contracts increased from 3 in 2010 to 76 919 by the beginning of 2025, the amount of guarantees amounted to 1 621 billion tenge on loans in the amount of 3 097 billion tenge.
Financing of SMEs in the manufacturing industry under the Nurly Zhol programme and joint action plans of the Government and the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan
The Government of Kazakhstan allocated funds in the amount of 200,000 million tenge in 2014-15 to support SMEs in the manufacturing industry through commercial banks. Thus, SMEs can receive loans at a rate of 6% in the amount of up to 1 850 million tenge for a period of up to 10 years. As of the end of 2025, 2 228 projects totaling 1 336 billion tenge were supported.
The Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund implements a number of its own programmes, which are funded by the company's own capital or by attracting funds from local authorities and international financial organisations. Within the framework of regional programmes, loans are provided with a maximum rate of up to 8.5%. The industry is determined depending on the specifics of the economy of each region. Under international programmes, loans are granted on market terms and without restrictions by sector.
As part of its own programmes, the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund and its partner organisations (banks, leasing companies, microfinance organisations) have financed more than 66,808 projects totaling 1 200 billion tenge as of the end of 2025.
In 2017, the Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund, together with other government organisations, began operating the Enbek Employment and Mass Entrepreneurship Development Programme for 2017-2021. The Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund is responsible for providing preferential loans at a rate of up to 6% per year for urban entrepreneurs. As of the end of 2025, 4 917 projects in urban areas were supported for a total amount of loans of 74 937million tenge.
In 2017, the Damu Foundation also raised USD 5 million in UNDP funds to stimulate investment in urban energy-efficient projects. These funds are used to provide subsidies and loan guarantees for SMEs. By the end of 2025, 81 subsidy agreements were signed for a total amount of loans of 6 631 million tenge.
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