(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) ASTANA, Kazakhstan, October 16. The volume of affordable mortgage lending in Kazakhstan will be doubled to improve housing accessibility for citizens, Trend reports via the Kazakh government.

This decision was made following a government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov and attended by cabinet members and heads of key state agencies, which reviewed the progress of economic reforms aimed at improving the welfare of citizens.

The measure comes amid a reduction in mortgage program offers from second-tier banks, driven by an increase in the base interest rate.

The increased lending will be implemented through existing programs Nauryz and Nauryz-Zhumyssker, with credit volumes raised to 500 billion tenge ($930 million). Additionally, the popular Askeri Baspana program is being reinstated, allowing at least 7,000 military families annually to purchase apartments on the secondary market.

Offtake contracts will be signed with construction companies for housing projects under these programs, with developers committing to fixed prices for three years.

On October 10, the Monetary Policy Committee of the National Bank of Kazakhstan raised the base interest rate from 16.5 percent to 18 percent.

Earlier today, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev instructed Prime Minister Bektenov to submit by the end of the week a detailed plan for streamlining the implementation of the government's economic reform program. The plan is expected to include measures supporting small and medium-sized businesses, improving the investment climate, and stabilizing the country's economic situation.

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