Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$150 million loan that will help expand green renovation loans in Uzbekistan while boosting the funding available to commercial lenders in the country to continue providing affordable home loans.

The loan, under ADB’s Mortgage Market Sector Development Program, will supplement funding for the Mortgage Refinancing Company of Uzbekistan (UzMRC) to make local currency resources available to eligible financial institutions that provide residential mortgages, home improvement loans, and refinance green renovation loans. In Uzbekistan, borrowers can use green renovation loans to refurbish or install heating and cooling systems, install solar panels, improve insulation water—improving energy efficiency.

“A safe and comfortable home is a basic human right, and we are pleased to have helped increase the availability of affordable mortgages in Uzbekistan,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Yevgeniy Zhukov. “We are also delighted that this program will help enable  homeowners to improve their household energy efficiency and promote climate mitigation.”

With ADB’s support, UzMRC will develop and implement the green renovation loan tool kit, which includes an eligibility assessment of green renovation products and energy-saving calculations.  

Under the ADB program, at least 32.5% of the loans should go to women. The loan will also promote financing mechanisms to catalyze market-based mortgage finance in Uzbekistan, expand the availability of residential mortgage products including green financing, and bring product innovation to the banking sector.

“ADB’s support will continue to broaden access to housing finance across Uzbekistan through the provision of critical long-term funding to participating financial institutions,” said ADB Principal Financial Sector Specialist Syed Ali-Mumtaz H. Shah. “The inclusion of green financing and product innovation in the banking sector will also lengthen the tenor of market-based mortgage loans.”

Uzbekistan joined ADB in 1995. The bank has since committed loans, grants, and technical assistance of more than US$10 billion to the country.

ADB is committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable Asia and the Pacific, while sustaining its efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Established in 1966, it is owned by 68 members—49 from the region.