NUR-SULTAN – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has invested $630 million in 18 projects in Kazakhstan in 2021, the bank’s press service reported.
The EBRD announced its intention to support the major road project in central Kazakhstan in September 2021. The bank invested in the reconstruction of a road section between the cities of Kyzylorda and Zhezkazgan and the construction of a bypass road around of Kyzylorda.
Forty percent of the projects aim to promote the green economy. The EBRD will also support Kazakhstan in the implementation of its long-term cooperation strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.
Overall, the bank has invested more than $10.3 billion in the country’s economy through 295 projects.
The list of major projects includes infrastructure upgrades at Almaty International Airport and investments in the electricity utility of the Mangistau Regional Distribution Company (MREK) in the Western Kazakhstan region.
It is reported that the EBRD is focusing on strengthening the banking sector and supporting local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Last year, the EBRD also supported SMEs through 234 advisory projects with local and international experts.
In November, the EBRD issued the first-ever local currency bond linked to the mid-rate of the New Tenge Overnight Index, or TONIA. Some 12,500 million tenge of three-year bonds were auctioned at full issue price on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE).
According to the bank, “TONIA is a solid benchmark, anchored in the liquid market for overnight tenge repurchase agreements (repo). In accordance with market practice for indexing transactions to similar overnight risk-free rates in other currencies, the TONIA will be compounded daily and the compounded rate will then be calculated at the end of each interest period. Using the TCI simplifies calculations and reduces the risk of operational error.
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