Wednesday, 24, April, 2024

Finances

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is promoting green lending and facilitating trade in Uzbekistan by offering a financial facility of up to US$ 45 million (€42.5 million) to a major private lender, Ipak Yuli Bank.

President Shavkat Mirziyoyev discussed the processes of transformation and privatization in the banking system of Uzbekistan, the presidential press service said.

Maximum allowance of microloans will increase from the current 50 million to 100 million soums from January 1, 2024. This is stipulated in by the Nov. 10 presidential decree.

Uzbekistan’s public debt as of July 1, 2023 topped $31.5 billion, or 36.8% of GDP. Of these, public external debt is $25.9 billion, public internal debt is $5.6 billion.

The volume of foreign exchange interventions of the Central Bank in July-September neared $2 billion, the regulator said in a report on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov held talks with Vice President of the European Investment Bank Teresa Czerwnska yesterday in Luxembourg.

IFC has appointed Neil McKain as Country Manager for Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. McKain will spearhead IFC's strategy and operations to spur private sector development and drive sustainable, inclusive economic growth in these countries.

In an unprecedented move, Uzbekistan has issued UZS 4.25 trillion ($ 349,177,875.00) of green sovereign international bonds on the London Stock Exchange. In tandem, the nation also placed international bonds valued at $660mn. This development was confirmed by the Uzbekistan Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a of $200 million loan that will help Uzbekistan modernize and digitize its power distribution system to improve energy efficiency and reliability of electricity services, the bank said.

IFC is providing a $10 million loan to Ipak Yuli Bank in Uzbekistan to support the bank's lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including women-owned SMEs, and promote inclusive economic growth.

Bank of China is exploring the Uzbek banking system and the relevant legal conditions to enter it, the press service of the Central Bank said.

The private Ravnaq-bank has changed its name to Octobank at the shareholder meeting on August 30. Sarvar Fayziev, who has owned 52.1% of the bank's shares since 2021, sold them in early August to the banl’s CEO Iskandar Tursunov, whose share increased from 19.9% to 72.05%. The deal is valued at 52.2 billion soums, or 4.2 million USD. The remaining shares belong to Fortis Reserve System, Sharq Guzar Servis and others.

Uzbekistan’s public debt of reached $29.2 billion as of the end of 2022. In Q4, it grew by $3 billion, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in a report.

Shareholders of Uzagroexportbank at the Aug 10 shareholder meeting approved the change of the bank's name and rebranding. The bank’s name has been changed to AVO Bank. While, the maximum amount of declared bank shares has been raised to 200 billion ordinary shares worth 20 soums each.

The BOD of the Central Bank at its today's meeting decided to keep the interest rate at 14%, the press service of the regulator said.

The US authorities have imposed blocking sanctions against a number of Russian companies, including Tinkoff and Unistream banks. FOllowingly, Uzbek banks began to suspend operations with Unistream payment system.

Uzbek soum was among Top 10 weakest currencies in the world in 2023, The Uzbek soum ranked as the seventh weakest currency in the world with 1 soum buying 0.000087 dollar (or $1 equals 11,516 Uzbek soum). It was introduced in 1993 and is free-floating, Forbes said in report.

The 2023 consumer expenditure minimum in Uzbekistan was set at 568,000 soums per person per month. This is 12.4 percent higher than last year, the Statistics Agency.

The signing ceremony took place today at the Ministry of Energy of Uzbekistan, marking a significant milestone in the journey towards affordable and appealing sustainable energy solutions for rural communities. This event sets the stage for transformative advancements in the energy landscape, bringing us one step closer to empowering underserved areas.

Raiffeisen Bank issued statement stating that due to restrictions introduced on the part of correspondent banks, from July 3, 2023, an outgoing payment in euros to another bank cannot be made if the beneficiary's bank is located in one of the following countries: Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan , Moldova, United Arab Emirates, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan. The new conditions apply to individual clients, individual entrepreneurs, as well as legal entities.