Almaty, 30 October. Kazakhstan’s external debt stood at 187.9 billion dollars on 1 July 2026, up 4.8 billion in the first half of the year, according to a National Bank report, Bizmedia.kz writes.
Almost half of the debt — 86.2 billion dollars, or 45.9% — is intercompany debt: obligations of Kazakh companies to their foreign parent structures. 66% of it relates to branches of foreign companies running large oil and gas projects and is largely conditional: repayment may be non-monetary, and the amount depends on oil prices and project profitability. Another 63.1 billion dollars (33.6%) is debt of other sectors not related to direct investment.
Net external debt — liabilities minus the foreign assets of Kazakh residents — fell by 1.8 billion dollars in the half-year to 52.9 billion. The public sector, according to the National Bank, remains a net creditor to the rest of the world: its foreign assets, above all the National Fund, exceed its debts. Banks and the corporate sector are net borrowers.
What it means: The headline figure of 188 billion dollars mainly reflects intra-group obligations of oil and gas consortia; the country’s net debt is three times smaller and fell over the half-year.
Who benefits: The state gains from being a net creditor, which softens debt risks. Borrowing companies gain from a strong tenge, which makes servicing foreign-currency debt cheaper. The risk lies in the dependence of intercompany debt on oil prices.
Background: External debt comprises all obligations of a country’s residents to non-residents — the state, banks and companies. Intercompany debt consists of loans that subsidiaries and branches receive from parent companies abroad; in Kazakhstan it is linked mainly to large oil and gas projects.
