About Yerbol

Economist and former Deputy Prime Minister · Washington D.C.

Yerbol Orynbayev is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, an international economist and a financial services leader whose career spans government, central banking and fintech. Over more than two decades he has shaped how Kazakhstan finances its growth, regulates its financial sector and educates its next generation.

As Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013, Orynbayev helped steer the country through the 2008 global financial crisis and championed, from within government, the creation of Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan's first Western-style research university.

He is widely regarded as one of the architects of liberal, research-led higher education in Kazakhstan, backing the university's merit-based admissions, its partnerships with leading international institutions and its research centres in life sciences, energy and engineering. He previously headed the Prime Minister's Office, later served as Aide to the President on economic policy (2013-2015) and represented Kazakhstan as its Governor at the World Bank.

Since leaving government in 2015, he has built a second career at the intersection of banking and technology. He chaired First Heartland Securities, the investment bank that executed the turnaround of Jusan Bank, and served as Deputy Chairman of Jusan Bank's board.

He went on to help lead Jusan Technologies, which brought universal banking, investment banking, asset management and in-house software development together into a single digital financial ecosystem. Today he advises leading financial services and technology companies on digital banking, platform strategy and financial sector reform.

He is also a committed advocate of strong corporate governance. He believes companies have a duty to uphold transparency, accountability and integrity at every level, and to build cultures in which whistleblowers are firmly protected.

Orynbayev holds a degree in law from Lomonosov Moscow State University and a master's in international development policy from Duke University.

Background

Writes forFT, Fortune, bne, Investment Week, Investing.com

StudiedMaster's in International Development Policy, Duke University, Law, Lomonosov Moscow State University

ExperienceDeputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan

AwardsOrder of Parasat, 2012, Order of Kurmet, 2006

ElsewhereLinkedIn ↗YouTube ↗

Press photos3 photos, free to use with credit →

Most asked

Who is Yerbol Orynbayev?

Yerbol Orynbayev is a former Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, holding the economics brief in the early 2010s, and a former World Bank Governor on behalf of Kazakhstan. He led Kazakhstan's response to the 2008 global financial crisis. Yerbol Orynbayev is now based in the United States and works as an independent international economist covering macroeconomics, energy geopolitics and corporate governance.

What does Yerbol Orynbayev do now that he has left government?

Yerbol Orynbayev publishes independent macroeconomic and geopolitical commentary. Before that, Yerbol Orynbayev spent decades as an independent financial consultant to international banks operating in Kazakhstan, and has sustained three and a half years of thought leadership in banking media.

What can Yerbol Orynbayev speak about?

Yerbol Orynbayev comments on the pressured US macroeconomy, the economics of the US-Iran conflict and Strait of Hormuz energy supply, Europe as the likeliest spark of the next global recession, and corporate governance and whistleblower protection. Yerbol Orynbayev operates independently, so enquiries reach him directly. Journalists, producers, think tanks and campaigners in the US and UK can expect a clear position and a line they can quote.

What does Yerbol Orynbayev think investors are getting wrong about the US economy?

Markets are badly underpricing the long-term fragility of the US economy, in Yerbol Orynbayev's assessment. Labour contraction from immigration controls and AI, political pressure on the Federal Reserve ahead of the midterms, the deficit trajectory and durable energy-price pressure compound over years, while commentary celebrates beat-by-beat data. Yerbol Orynbayev treats a US correction as a recalibration and a question of when, not if.

Why does Yerbol Orynbayev argue whistleblower protection is an economic question rather than a compliance one?

Strong corporate governance and whistleblower protections act as a stabiliser of market trust, which is why Yerbol Orynbayev treats them as macroeconomic infrastructure rather than an internal compliance cost. His view was formed in 2008, when short-termist corporate behaviour deepened structural damage worldwide and leading indicators were dismissed until they could not be. Weak disclosure culture delays the recognition of risk, it does not remove it.

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