Kyrgyzstan buffs up its appeal

Kyrgyzstan’s banks are small, almost exclusively foreign-owned and invariably cautious to the point of paranoia. The local authorities are eager for newcomers to dip their toes into this pond, arguing that the post-Soviet economy will boom. But most newcomers that take up the invitation find a market that is deeply hostile to financial institutions, with potential clients much more inclined to invest in gold or put their money under the bed rather than use a bank deposit.