Look For Those Who Steal Billions: Deputies Call for Eased Control on Mobile Transfers

Aq Jol faction deputies have appealed to the government to review the regulations for controlling mobile transfers, which came into force at the beginning of the year, Orda.kz reports.

In their request to the Minister of National Economy, Serik Zhumangarin, the deputies pointed out that this control has already led to a 30% decrease in mobile payment volumes as they speak.

Small businesses, faced with inconveniences, are increasingly switching to cash payments.

According to experts, this approach may repeat the Turkish scenario, where control led to the formation of a double rate of the national currency and accelerated inflation.

The faction recalls that in February 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Nurlan Baybazarov highlighted the need to revise the oversight mechanism. However, despite the promises, the system was implemented unchanged. 

Deputies emphasize that the current monitoring thresholds — any payments totaling 255 thousand tenge per month  — are incomparable to international practice. 

For instance, in Russia, only transfers over one million rubles per month (about 5.5 million tenge) are subject to monitoring, and each each transaction must be more than one thousand rubles.

We would like to highlight that small and micro businesses are usually ordinary people who are just trying to make an honest living by working in small shops, cafes, or providing small services. They aren't the ones draining the budget or transfering billions to offshore accounts. If such entrepreneurs earn an extra 10-20 thousand tenge, they will likely spend it here, in the country — buying clothes for their kids or slightly expanding their small business. So, to the officials out there: you are looking for oligarchs in the wrong place. Look for those who steal billions, Peruashev noted. 

Deputies suggest setting the threshold for monitoring payments at 1 million tenge per month, which is in line with small businesses' actual turnover.

They also believe increasing the minimum payment amount is essential, which requires monitoring.

Original Author: Artem Volkov