Banks in Kyrgyzstan face numerous challenges beyond the accessibility problems caused by the country's mountainous terrain. A distrust of conventional banking and strong position of microfinance institutions means the central Asian state is under-penetrated by conventional lenders, a situation that is slowly but surely starting to change.
Closer economic integration of countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States has been discussed for many years without practical progress. The launch of a Single Economic Space between Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus may be about to change that.
In the past decade, foreign investment and natural resources wealth have transformed the banking landscape in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The Banker's latest ranking for the region shows which countries have benefited the most from this change.
Baktygul Jeenbaeva was plucked from the private sector to become acting chairman of the Kyrgyz central bank in July 2010, following the overthrow of the country’s government in April. She explains how she responded to the crisis, and sets out the fate of the country’s largest bank.