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Best Bank: Halyk Bank |
Kazakhstan was the first emerging nation to get sucked into the credit crunch, in the summer of 2007. The country’s banks had financed their growth largely through funding in the international capital markets so when the crunch arrived, liquidity dried up and refinancing became almost impossible.
Over the past 12 months, two of the country’s biggest banks, Alliance and BTA, have been forced into debt restructurings to guarantee their survival.
One bank stands above the rest: Halyk Bank. Although, like Alliance, BTA and Kazkommertsbank, it has received a capital injection from the state, its situation is not as bad as that of the other three.