ADB Approves $300 Mln Loan to Boost Inclusive Finance in Uzbekistan
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $300 mln policy-based loan, including $100 mln on concessional terms, to help Uzbekistan expand access to finance for underserved micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), especially those led by women, and to strengthen the country’s microfinance sector.
The funding supports Subprogram 2 of the Inclusive Finance Sector Development Program, which builds on earlier reforms to create a stronger legal and institutional framework for inclusive finance. Measures include raising the maximum microloan size, updating microfinance regulations, joining the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Code, and drafting rules for Islamic microfinance.
The new subprogram will also tighten consumer protection by updating responsible lending guidelines, regulating emerging services such as «buy now, pay later,» and enhancing digital financial supervision. It further scales up gender-focused reforms through a financial sector gender equality policy, gender-based financing quotas, and mandatory sex-disaggregated data reporting.
An assessment of Uzbekistan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy for 2021–2023 found that 60% of adults now hold an account with a formal financial institution, driven largely by rapid growth in digital finance.
The program also supports a structural overhaul of the microfinance sector by enabling the creation of deposit-taking microfinance banks under a risk-based regulatory and supervisory framework. So far, two preliminary licenses have been issued. Technical assistance will accompany the reforms to build institutional capacity, with a proposed third subprogram planned for 2025–2027.
ADB, which marks the 30th anniversary of its partnership with Uzbekistan this year, has committed $14.6 bn in public sector loans, grants and technical assistance to the country since 1995. Earlier, the bank also approved a separate $500 mln policy-based loan to support public sector efficiency and economic governance reforms.
Kursiv Uzbekistan also reports that French renewable energy developer Voltalia has begun supplying power to Uzbekistan’s grid from its new 126MW solar PV plant in the western Khorezm region.
