The Bank is helping to enhance the institutional capacity of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange.
High commodity prices and the success of local banks in attracting wholesale financing from abroad were the key to the explosive growth of the Kazakhstani economy since 2000. However, things changed with the outbreak of the international financial downturn, with local banks being virtually cut from international capital markets, resulting in a liquidity shortage and deterioration of loan portfolios.
Technical cooperation assistance
To help restore a dynamic financial market in the country, in the context of the EBRD-wide Local Currency and Local Capital Market Development Initiative, the Bank has provided technical cooperation assistance to the personnel of the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) to build the appropriate institutional capacity for two main development areas: liquidity provision systems and increasing market transparency. This provided KASE management with guidelines and models that will guarantee the efficient operation of a fair, regulated, open securities market and help restore the confidence of market participants and institutions.
Stabilising KASE and increasing transparency
The assignment, financed with grant resources provided by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund (SSF), focused on the modelling of liquidity provision measures and on trading data availability and dissemination issues. Stabilising the market liquidity of KASE and contribution to the increase in market transparency will benefit national and international stock investors and companies.
The SSF is financing other technical assistant programmes aiming at improving the stock exchanges in Azerbaijan and FYR Macedonia.
