Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Central Bank of Uzbekistan plans to begin regulating the installment market to mitigate risks associated with its rapid growth. This was announced by the Chairman of the Central Bank, Timur Ishmetov, during an International Monetary Fund conference on 2 May.

According to Ishmetov, the Central Bank will focus on newly emerging markets that are currently unregulated but pose certain risks. One such market is the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) system, which has already reached a significant scale.

“We have held several meetings with BNPL market participants and informed them that we plan to introduce regulations in this sector to account for the population’s debt burden and to ensure adequate consumer protection,” the Central Bank head stated.

In January, it was reported that the Central Bank was considering regulating the installment market, which is currently outside the scope of banking oversight. In particular, companies offering goods on installment will be required to submit credit information to credit bureaus.

In addition, the Central Bank is introducing a cap on the maximum allowable overpayment for microloans — it must not exceed 50% annually. The maximum daily interest rate for microloans is also being lowered from 0.3% to 0.25%.

The borrower debt burden ratio has now been set at 50%, calculated as the share of average monthly microloan payments relative to average monthly income. These new requirements will come into effect on 24 July.