BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 18. Uzbekistan’s
commercial banks increased their outstanding loan portfolio by 7.4%
to 648.9 trillion soums (about $53.8 billion) in the first eight
months of 2026, while microloans to individuals and businesses
recorded substantially faster growth.
This was reflected in the statement by the Central Bank of
Uzbekistan.
Total outstanding loans reached 648.9 trillion soums (about
$53.8 billion) as of September 1, 2026, up from 604 trillion soums
(around $50.1 billion) at the beginning of the year. The increase
amounted to approximately 44.9 trillion soums (approx. $3.7
billion).
Microloans to individuals grew by 19.1% during the reporting
period, rising from 40.5 trillion soums (around $3.4 billion) to
48.2 trillion soums (approx. $4 billion). Outstanding microloans to
legal entities increased by 25.17%, from 14.7 trillion soums (about
$1.2 billion) to 18.4 trillion soums (around $1.5 billion).
Combined, microloans to individuals and legal entities reached
66.6 trillion soums (approx. $5.5 billion) as of September 1, 2026,
compared with 55.2 trillion soums (about $4.6 billion) at the
beginning of the year.
According to Trend’s calculations, the combined outstanding balance
of these microloans increased by 11.4 trillion soums (around $946.5
million), or approximately 20.7%, during the first eight months of
2026. Their share of the total loan portfolio rose from around 9.1%
at the beginning of the year to approximately 10.3% as of September
1, an increase of about 1.2 percentage points.
Housing finance also expanded. Outstanding mortgage loans
increased to 89.7 trillion soums (approx. $7.4 billion) from 79.4
trillion soums (about $6.6 billion) at the beginning of the year,
an increase of 10.3 trillion soums (around $855.1 million).
The increase in mortgage lending amounted to approximately
13.0%, broadly consistent with the reported growth rate of 12.9%,
allowing for rounding in the underlying figures. Mortgages remained
the largest lending category among loans to individuals.
Within the corporate loan portfolio, outstanding leasing and
factoring operations increased by 32.1% to 5.1 trillion soums
(approx. $423.4 million).
The balance of leasing and factoring operations stood at
approximately 3.86 trillion soums (about $320.5 million) at the
beginning of 2026, based on the reported growth rate. This implies
an increase of around 1.2 trillion soums (around $99.6 million)
over the first eight months of the year.
The figures show that several lending segments expanded faster
than the overall loan portfolio. While total outstanding loans grew
by 7.4%, microloans to individuals and legal entities increased by
approximately 20.7% combined, and leasing and factoring operations
rose by 32.1%.
The increase in the share of microloans in total outstanding
lending indicates that this segment accounted for a larger portion
of banks’ loan portfolios by September 1. However, the figures
alone do not establish the extent to which these products drove
overall credit growth, as a complete breakdown of changes across
all lending categories would be needed to assess their
contribution.
