ALMATY, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest economy, expects gross domestic product to expand by 5 to 6 percent this year, National Bank Governor Grigory Marchenko said on Wednesday.

Deputy Prime Minister Kairat Kelimbetov said last month that the oil-fuelled economy was expected to grow by at least 5 percent in 2012.

Quoting preliminary central bank data, Marchenko said the loan portfolio of Kazakhstan's banking sector had expanded by 12.3 percent last year.

(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Keywords: KAZAKHSTAN GDP/

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