Foreign capital loses ground in Kyrgyzstan's banking sector

The banking system of Kyrgyzstan has grown significantly over the past year. As of October 31, 2025, the net total capital of banks used to calculate the economic indicators of the National Bank reached 211.3 billion KGS. Since the beginning of the year, the indicator has grown by 59.3% — almost 80 billion KGS. For comparison, at the end of 2024, the capital of the banking sector amounted to 132.6 billion KGS.

The growth was not only rapid but also structural. Along with the increase in the capital base, the ownership structure in the banking sector also changed. The share of foreign participation in bank capital at the end of October fell to 18.9%, or 26.4 billion KGS, while a year earlier, foreigners controlled 28% of the paid-up authorized capital — although in absolute terms this amounted to 21.6 billion KGS.

Foreign capital grew in absolute terms, but ceased to set the proportions, as banks with national participation increased their capital significantly faster.

This is confirmed by data at the end of the third quarter of 2025. Foreign capital was present in only 12 of the 21 banks operating in Kyrgyzstan.

Thus, the total paid-up authorized capital of these banks amounted to about 31.9 billion KGS, of which 27.1 billion KGS belonged to non-residents. At the same time, the bulk of foreign capital is concentrated in a limited number of banks.

The largest banks with foreign participation in terms of foreign capital were:

• Keremet Bank OJSC — 6.52 billion KGS;
• Demir Kyrgyz International Bank CJSC — 6 billion KGS (100% foreign capital);
• Optima Bank OJSC — 5.44 billion KGS;
• O!Bank OJSC — 1.5 billion KGS;
• FINKA Bank CJSC — 1.47 billion soms;
• Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank CJSC — 1.81 billion KGS.

Foreign capital is also concentrated, either entirely or almost entirely, in Bank of Asia, Bank Compagnon, KSB Commercial Bank, Eurasian Savings Bank, and Kyrgyzkommertsbank.

At the same time, a number of banks have minimal foreign participation. For example, Tolubai Commercial Bank has only 13.7 million KGS of foreign capital, which has virtually no impact on the bank's ownership structure.

Overall, we see that foreign capital in the Kyrgyz banking system is concentrated in a limited number of banks. At the same time, other market participants continue to operate primarily on the basis of domestic capital.