ALMATY, OCT. 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhs are spending more money on credit cards than ever before, new data showed, as they try to work out ways of pulling through a prolonged economic downturn.

Data from the rankings.kz website showed that the amount of credit cards in circulation in Kazakhstan had increased by 250% this year, a jump that suggests a large rise, too, in consumer debt.

Kuralai Abenova, a student in Almaty, was using her credit card to buy kit to renovate her apartment.

“It is very convenient rather than saving money. I can take a large sum of money and then pay little bits of it off regularly,” she said.

A crash in oil prices and a recession in Russia have hit Kazakhstan hard. The tenge currency has lost around 50% of its value since 2014 and inflation is rising.

Analysts have previously warned, though, that Kazakhs’ over-reliance on credit was a weakness that could undermine the economy. During the Global Economic Crisis of 2008/9, Kazakh banks were left with piles of bad debt. The risk is that similar amounts of bad debt are being accrued now.

And this loose attitude towards consumer debt is being replicated in high street shops which are encouraging shoppers to spend through cheap loans.

Saida Zhunusova, a financial consultant at the electronics store Technodom, said she had seen a large increase in the number of people using credit cards or asking directly for credit to pay for products.

“Many people cannot pay for the goods with cash and it is more convenient for them to pay only a part of the cost. Compared to 2014-2015 our sales have doubled because of loans,” she said.

ENDS