Kazahk banking system relatively heathy

Implications: There just was, and to an extent still is, a global credit crisis, and financial system in Kazahkstan seems to have weathered it.

Analysis: As has been proven very recently in the U.S. and U.K. (Northern Rock Bank), having a good base of deposits is much more reliable than the securitization market and other sources of funding.

Of the major Kazahk banks, KKB gets only 35% of its deposits from customers, and this number is insufficient to weather a tougher crisis.

JSC Halyk Bank, however, gets 69% of its funding base from customer deposits and should be able to weather most credit market storms.