BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 30
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to increase trade support in Uzbekistan with new package for National Bank for Foreign Economic Activity of Uzbekistan (NBU), Trend reports with reference to EBRD.
The funds are part of the EBRD’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and its economic impact.
Part of the package is an increase in trade finance which in Uzbekistan alone has now reached $220 million. It will help mitigate the disruptions that severe market conditions have caused in trade and supply chains, the message said.
An additional trade limit of up to $70 million to NBU under the EBRD’s Trade Facilitation Program (TFP) will help domestic exporters and importers continue their business activities. It follows a package of up to $150 million made available to Asaka Bank, Ipoteka Bank and UzPromstroybank under the EBRD’s TFP earlier this month.
NBU operates 93 branches across Uzbekistan. The bank is well-placed to provide much-needed support to Uzbek businesses to enable them to better manage commodity stocks and plan for longer trade cycles, the message said.
Despite a decline of exports and imports in Uzbekistan in the first quarter of 2020 by around three percent, trade remains an important factor in the national economy: In 2019 alone the country’s trade turnover was around $43 billion.
The EBRD Board of Directors in late April approved the increase of its Resilience Framework to four billion euros. The resources are available to the Bank’s existing clients in order to support their urgent liquidity, short-term working capital and trade finance needs. The latter is particularly important in circumstances when the availability of commercial trade finance credit lines is likely to remain constrained.
TFP promotes international trade to, from, and within the Bank’s countries of operations, including Uzbekistan. The EBRD is currently working with seven Uzbek financial intermediaries, which collectively have trade finance limits worth $340 million the message said.
In addition the EBRD also offers access to compliance and advances trade finance skills: over 500 local bankers from commercial banks and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan have received professional specialized training since 2017.
To date, the EBRD has invested 1.85 billion euros through 79 projects in Uzbekistan's economy.
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