Kazakhstan’s Otbasy Bank is preparing to enter the Uzbek market, Timur Onzhanov, deputy chairman of the management board of the Baiterek holding, told Bloomberg. Baiterek is the bank’s sole shareholder.
The holding is also considering expanding the lender’s presence into Malaysia and countries in the Middle East. The strategy includes developing mortgage lending and Islamic finance instruments in new markets.
Onzhanov said both the holding and the bank plan to raise foreign financing this year, either through direct borrowing from international banks or by issuing Eurobonds. Baiterek is also weighing the issuance of bonds denominated in yuan and potentially in yen in the future.
«China is our main export-import market, so many buyers are showing interest in yuan,» Onzhanov said.
Kursiv also reports that Uzbekistan has seen a significant increase in enterprises with foreign investment over the past five years, nearly doubling to 18,500.
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