Uzbekistan Quality Job Creation as a Cornerstone for Sustainable Economic Growth

Figure 4.9: Bank Credit and GDP per Capita, Central and West Asia, 
2004–2017

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Private Sector Development and Access to Finance
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Figure 4.10 shows the positive correlation between credit supply and the 
opening of new businesses in Central and West Asia: increased bank credit 
delivery correlates with increases in new business density, denoted by the 
number of new business registrations per 1,000 people aged 15–64 years 
old. However, Uzbekistan does not follow this trend well, suggesting its credit 
supply may not suffice to promote new businesses, including start-ups and 
other SMEs.
Commercial banks are dominant players in Uzbekistan’s financial system. 
As of Q3 2018, 28 commercial banks, including 11 state-owned banks, are 
active in Uzbekistan. Total bank assets accounted for 67% of GDP at the 
end of 2017 and amounted to SUM195 trillion ($24 billion) in Q3 2018. 
Bank capital as a share of risk-weighted assets has been improving and 
was 19.55% as of Q1 2018 (Figure 4.11). The return on assets was 2.01% 
in Q1 2018. The return on equity has been decreasing since the currency 
devaluation in late 2017, but was at the moderate level of 15.57% in Q1 2018. 
The liberalization of foreign exchange markets in September 2017 had some 
negative impacts on the banking sector, but the soundness of the sector has 
been maintained as it was backed by the government’s capital injection into 
nine state-owned banks. The injection amounted to $500 million from the 
Uzbekistan Fund for Reconstruction and Development and SUM500 billion 
($62 million) from the Ministry of Finance.
GDP = gross domestic product.
Notes: Bank credit/GDP (%) refers to bank loans outstanding as a percent of GDP for Uzbekistan and 
domestic credit to private sector by banks as a percent of GDP for other countries. For Uzbekistan, 
data collected on forms specially designed by the author. Central and West Asia is Armenia, Azerbaijan, 
Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
Sources: Author’s estimates based on data received from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan on 2 October 
2018, and World Bank. World Development Indicators. http://www.databank.worldbank.org/ (accessed 20 
September 2018).