The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan published its May 2025 consumer protection and supervisory activity update, focused on handling borrower complaints about fraud, assisting with restructuring consumer loan arrears, and taking steps to reduce debt burdens. It reviewed 14,664 appeals related to financial institutions and collection agencies, a 16.0% decrease from April 2025. Banks accounted for 52.7% of appeals, followed by microfinance organisations (36.6%), collection agencies (6.3%), insurance (1.6%), other organisations (0.6%), and unnamed financial institutions (2.1%). Supervisory responses included recommendation-based measures and written orders, alongside two administrative penalties totalling KZT 1,455,000, including a KZT 1,180,000 penalty on a bank and a KZT 275,000 penalty on an insurance organisation. The Agency also reported continued implementation of the Mortgage Housing Loan Refinancing Programme aimed at preserving borrowers’ only homes and reducing debt burdens. As of 1 June 2025, banks had refinanced 32.9 thousand mortgage loans totalling KZT 207.4 billion under the first track (mortgages issued from 2004 to 2020 at a rate of no more than 3% per year), and converted or refinanced 15.9 thousand foreign-currency mortgage loans totalling KZT 114.0 billion under the second track (issued before 1 January 2016, using an exchange rate of KZT 188.35 per USD), which is scheduled to end on 31 December 2025. Under the third track, support measures totalling KZT 96.3 billion were provided to 10.6 thousand borrowers in the ХӘОТ category, with additional assistance available through 31 December 2025 in the form of debt reduction and returning the only home held on banks’ balance sheets to former owners.

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