Nearly One in Three Uzbek Borrowers Holds Multiple Loans

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Nearly one-third of borrowers in Uzbekistan maintain more than one active bank loan, with an average of 1.7 active loans per borrower, according to data from the Central Bank of Uzbekistan's pilot financial inclusion index.

The report highlights that access to credit products is well established, with credit bureau records covering 98 percent of the adult population and 80 percent of new retail loans processed through automated credit pipelines. Overall, 20 percent of adults hold an active bank credit account, while an additional 7 percent utilize loans from microfinance organizations.

A central finding of the report reveals that 29 percent of individual borrowers currently service multiple active loans. The Central Bank noted that while this trend reflects expanding access to credit, it also indicates a gradual accumulation of debt obligations among clients already active within the credit system.

The index for retail credit usage scored 47 points out of 100, compared with 64 points for credit accessibility.

As retail lending continues to expand, the Central Bank emphasized the importance of developing tools to monitor total debt burdens, ensuring timely data exchange among lenders, and identifying debt servicing difficulties early. The regulator also outlined plans to transition away from stop-factor lending decisions toward risk-oriented scoring models that incorporate supplementary and alternative data.