Majilis approved law on state educational deposits

Kazakhstan Majilis approved a law introducing a state educational deposit system in Kazakhstan, Tengrinews.kz reports from the Lower Chamber of Parliament of Kazakhstan. "Let's say, parents open a deposit for their 10-y.o. child and choose a deposit period of 7 years. The initial payment is 5 thousand tenge ($33) and all the following installments are 15 thousand tenge ($100) monthly. The bank's rate of return on the deposit is 8 percent, the state's bonus is 5 percent. So that means that by the end of the deposit period, when the child turns 17, the total deposited amount will reach 2.075 million tenge ($13,833). 60 percent of this amount is made the depositor's funds, 23 percent is the bank's return and 17 percent is the state bonus," Kazakhstan Minister of Education and Science Bakytzhan Zhumagulov gave an example during the presentation of the draft law. "This example shows that in case of all the deposits that are part of the state educational deposit system the state undertakes a significant part of the education expenses: around 15-20 percent," he continued. Deputy head of Kazakhstan National Bank Bissengali Tadzhiyakov said that not all of Kazakhstan's 39 second-tier banks will take part in the state educational deposit system. By Renat Tashkinbayev