TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, December 19. Uzbekistan plans to start providing an unsecured loan for 100 million soums ($8,071) to self-employed entrepreneurs, Trend reports.
The news followed a meeting between Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the officials of the Uzbek government.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed the development of the country’s financial sector, which is expected to grow by 20 percent in 2024.
Thus, in 2024, the volume of financial services provided is planned to be increased by 30 percent to 140 trillion soums ($11.2 billion).
Moreover, as part of the Family Entrepreneurship program of Uzbekistan, an unsecured loan for 50 million soums ($4,035) will be provided by the government for the new entrepreneurs with a positive credit history.
Meanwhile, the value of loans issued to individuals in Uzbekistan reached 105.1 trillion soums ($9.2 billion) as of March 2023.
According to the Central Bank, the value of loans issued to individuals has increased by 48.1 percent compared to the figure for March 1, 2022 (70.9 trillion soums, or $6.2 billion).
From the total value of loans issued to individuals in the corresponding period, mortgage loans accounted for 47.6 trillion soums ($4.1 billion), consumer loans for 25.5 trillion soums ($2.2 billion), microloans for 15.3 trillion soums ($1.3 billion), loans for business development for 14.1 trillion soums ($1.2 billion), etc.
At the same time, the value of loans issued to legal entities as of March 1, 2023, reached 292.4 trillion soums ($25.6 billion).