The volume of bank loans to businesses in Kazakhstan reached 18.3 trillion tenge at the end of the first quarter of 2026. According to data from the publication Ranking.kz, the figure increased by 20.4% over the year, with the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment acting as the main growth driver.
What Happened
The corporate financing market is growing unevenly. Loans to small business entities increased by 38%, reaching 8.7 trillion tenge. Lending to medium-sized businesses grew by 30.7% and amounted to 3.1 trillion tenge.
At the same time, financing for large businesses has effectively stalled. Over the year, the volume of loans issued to large companies remained virtually unchanged, stabilizing at around 6.6 trillion tenge. In terms of sectors, construction companies were the most active borrowers (up 36.1%), followed by transport (32.2%) and communications (29.1%) enterprises.
Country and Market
Analysts attribute the growth in the SME segment to the expansion of banking product lines and state support programs. As an example, Ranking.kz cites ForteBank: according to the publication, the bank’s loan portfolio for small and medium-sized businesses grew by 45.4% in 2025, reaching 810.1 billion tenge. The bank acts as an operator for the “Orleu” program from the Damu Fund, which provides access to preferential financing for traditional sectors of the economy, IT companies, and creative industries.
Why It Matters
The shift in banks’ focus toward small and medium-sized businesses is changing the structure of the corporate portfolio. Financial institutions appear to be compensating for the stagnation in the large corporate sector through mass lending to smaller companies.
What’s Next
The study indicates that banks are continuing to expand their product lines for entrepreneurs. Digital solutions with simplified and accelerated application approval processes are appearing on the market, which should further support demand from small businesses.
