Almost 26,000 Kazakhs with disabilities hold problem loans totaling 48 billion tenge. To reduce the debt burden, the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (ARDFR) is proposing new measures, reports infohub.kz.

Kazakhstan is changing its approach to dealing with debt among people with group I and II disabilities. Instead of a one-size-fits-all solution, each borrower's situation will be assessed individually, taking into account income, property, family composition, and other life circumstances.

According to the ARDFR, more than 105,600 Kazakhs with group I and II disabilities have loans totaling 262 billion tenge. Of these, 26,300 people have problem debts worth 48 billion tenge. In Almaty, about 10,000 people with disabilities face difficulties repaying loans, with total debt of 8.6 billion tenge.

For this category of citizens, the ARDFR, together with the Almaty akimat, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and the Ministry of Justice, is implementing a pilot project for comprehensive debt resolution.

Borrowers may be offered debt restructuring, reduced debt burden, payment deferrals, extended loan terms, or a new repayment schedule. If restoring solvency is impossible, citizens will be informed about the bankruptcy procedure.

“It is not about a blanket write-off of debts, but about creating conditions under which a citizen can restore solvency and fulfill obligations on feasible terms,” said Alexander Terentyev, Director of the Department of Social Projects and Financial Literacy of the ARDFR.

Since July 1, 2026, the digital platform finkelisim.kz has been operating, through which borrowers with multiple loans can submit a single application for debt resolution. Citizens with overdue payments of more than 90 days to two or more creditors, with a debt amount ranging from 648,000 to 6.9 million tenge, can use the service.

For socially vulnerable categories, softer repayment conditions are provided, including reduced monthly payments and extended repayment periods. At the first stage, about 350,000 problem borrowers could become potential participants of the platform.

From January 1, 2027, new rules for the financial ombudsman will come into effect, and later all assistance mechanisms are planned to be combined into a Single Center for Debt Resolution.

Earlier, Kursiv reported that the ARDFR approved new rules requiring banks, microfinance, and insurance organizations to ensure that the loan or other product offered to a client is truly suitable for them.