The Government of Kazakhstan is not liable for the obligations of national companies and other quasi-public sector organizations if no state guarantees have been provided for them. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
During a briefing at the Majilis, Finance Minister Madi Takiev responded to journalists' questions. Journalists raised the issue, asking whether the debts of the quasi-public sector would ever be included in state obligations, since in their opinion, the activities of such companies are somehow linked to the budget.
Takiev replied that the state does not bear responsibility for these loans.
"These are relationships between economic entities; they borrow and repay themselves. We did not provide state guarantees for them," the minister said.
According to him, state guarantees are issued only for specific projects.
"...we provide a state guarantee, for example, for road repairs and so on, but the amount there is only 2 trillion tenge. For the other amounts that are mentioned, over $17 billion, there are no state guarantees, so the state is not responsible for those obligations," Takiev emphasized.
Journalists clarified whether it could be stated outright that the government does not guarantee repayment of national companies' debts. In response, the head of the Ministry of Finance reiterated that the state is only liable for obligations backed by state guarantees.
"Today, I can repeat once again, our external debt, specifically foreign external debt, amounts to $17 billion or 4.5% of GDP. We are not responsible for all other debts. We have no state guarantees for them," the minister said.
Takiev also reported that the 2026 budget allocates 3.5 trillion tenge for servicing the state debt. According to him, by changing the borrowing structure and attracting funds in Japanese yen, the government managed to save 115 billion tenge.
According to the Ministry of Finance, as of April 1, 2026, Kazakhstan's total state debt stood at 36.84 trillion tenge, or $76.5 billion. The government's external debt was estimated at approximately $17 billion. The country's total state and guaranteed debt, including obligations under sureties, reached 39.07 trillion tenge, or $81.15 billion.