Restrictions on purchase of government bonds by citizens to be lifted 

The Ministry of Finance of Uzbekistan plans to increase the issuance of state treasury bonds. Deputy Minister Odilbek Isokov informed about this at the Senate plenary session on August 4.

According to Isokov, in 2019, nearly 600 billion soums worth of state treasury bonds were issued, and in 2020-2021, this number reached 5 trillion soums.

“Our goal this year is net 6 trillion soums. In cooperation with the Central Bank, we are systematically working to attract not only banks, but also other, including foreign, investors to state treasury bonds,” he said.

It is reported that work is being carried out on bonds issued for individuals, not legal entities.

“We have plans for this in the next years as well. There is only one thing to consider. The interest rate of bonds intended for individuals is expected to be much higher than that of legal entities. The reason is that we should at least be equal to the deposit rates in banks. That’s why this 3-4 percent difference prevents us from these plans, but we certainly have them in our plans,” the deputy finance minister said.

It should be recalled that at the end of 2018, the Ministry of Finance together with the Central Bank resumed operations with state securities after a long break, but only legal residents of Uzbekistan can purchase them according to the law.

In 2019, the draft five-year strategy for the development of the capital market was announced. In it, the first indications were given regarding the possibility to purchase government securities for individuals. In 2021, the Capital Market Development Agency was abolished, and all its functions were returned to the Ministry of Finance.

In 2020, the Central Bank announced that it is too early to sell government bonds to individuals. Ilkhom Norkulov, the deputy head of the regulator at that time (now the deputy minister of economy) said that due to low profitability, securities will not be in demand among the population.

“In turn, banks use these papers to maintain liquidity,” Norkulov explained then.