“Central Bank does not exclude admission of non-residents to the market of government bonds” – Deputy Chairman of CB

The Central Bank does not exclude admission of non-residents to the market of government bonds of Uzbekistan in the medium or long term, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Ilhom Norkulov said at the Fitch Ratings conference in Tashkent on Tuesday.

In December, Uzbekistan resumed issuing government securities, which was suspended in 2012. They are allocated only among commercial banks and legal entities – residents of the country.

“We do not exclude, in the medium or long term, admission of non-residents to the domestic market of government bonds. We will do it step by step and adhere to a conservative approach,” the deputy head of the Central Bank said.

In his opinion, Uzbekistan initially needs to create an efficiently functioning market for government bonds and improve the pricing mechanism.

“Banks have now begun to actively manage their liquidity, to identify its potential qualification. They must adapt. Then we can think about admission of foreign participants,” Ilhom Norkulov noted.