Kazakhstan citizens to be able to transfer pension savings to accounts with Otbasy Bank

Today, in his annual State of the Nation Address to the people of Kazakhstan, President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev instructed the government to allow people to transfer part of their pension savings to accounts with Otbasy Bank. Only citizens whose pension savings exceed a sufficiency threshold, will be eligible for this. This measure is expected to motivate people to save money and manage it competently.

Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev took positive note of the early use of pension savings. Otbasy Bank (a subsidiary of the Baiterek Holding) supports the President's initiative as it will help young Kazakhstanis to acquire housing faster.

– About 120 thousand new families are formed in Kazakhstan every year. In the first years of marriage, it is not easy for spouses to save up for their own apartment or house. They need support. The President’s initiative is what is urgently needed now. It will allow Kazakhstanis to halve the period of money accumulation in Otbasy Bank and celebrate a housewarming much earlier. We estimate that about 190 thousand new families will be able to take advantage of this opportunity during this year. Another 15 thousand families are expected to open their accounts annually, – said Lyazzat Ibragimova, Chairman of the Board of Otbasy Bank.

To date, about 250 thousand people have already used their pension savings through Otbasy Bank for a total amount of over 1.4 trillion tenge. A large share (46.1%) falls on citizens aged 36-45, 18.5% are people aged 26-35. People aged 18-25 account for only 0.2% of withdrawals from the pension fund.

The President’s new initiative will change the situation for the better and will allow a much larger number of families to purchase apartments.

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“Otbasy Bank” Housing Construction Savings Bank is Kazakhstan’s only bank that implements a system of housing construction savings. The bank is a member of the European Federation of Building Societies (EFBS) and the International Union for Housing Finance. The sole shareholder of Otbasy Bank is Baiterek National Management Holding.