Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan – Evaluation of Financial Sector Programs

This evaluation covered two components of USAID’s strategy to improve the environment for the growth of small and medium enterprises in Central Asia: the Financial Sector Initiative to strengthen financial markets in Kazakhstan with a focus on the insurance, pension, and mortgage industries; and the Banking Supervision Project to develop the capacity of the national banks of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to comply with best practices in banking supervision. The evaluators examined the impact of both projects on the growth of SMEs, the effectiveness of project interventions, sustainability prospects and constraints with respect to the new financial instruments introduced, and the capacity of the national banks to regulate the banking sector.