Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) has updated the rating of the most active banks in Uzbekistan. The rating leaders retained their positions and again the three most active banks continue to be headed by Kapitalbank, Hamkorbank and Trustbank, Agrobank and Turonbank have shown rapid growth, and some banks such as Khalq Bank and Asaka Bank have significantly worsened their positions.

The Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR) has developed a "Bank Activity Index" for 31 commercial banks in Uzbekistan. On the basis of the CERI Index, the rating of banks is updated on a quarterly basis.

The study is conducted with the aim of monitoring changes in the share of the private sector in banking assets, as well as assessing the effectiveness of reforms and transformation processes in the country’s banking sector.

According to the approved Strategy for reforming the banking system of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020-2025, it is planned to gradually privatize state shares in Ipoteka Bank, Uzpromstroybank, Asaka Bank, Aloqabank, Qishloq Qurilish Bank and Turonbank. At the first stage, the transformation of their activities is envisaged, at the second stage - the sale of the state block of shares.

The privatization of large state-owned banks is expected to bring about significant changes in the financial services market, resulting in new services and competition.

The state share will be retained in the authorized capital of the National Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs of Uzbekistan, Agrobank and Microcreditbank.

As of 1 September 2021, the assets of the banking system of the republic amounted to 403.8 trillion soums (growth by 1 September 2020 22.5%), liabilities - 339.3 trillion soums (an increase of 24%), total capital - 64.5 trillion soums (growth 15.2%). Today the banking system employs over 57,000 people.

In the CERR study, banks were divided into two groups - large and small. The rating is compiled separately for each of these groups. At the same time, the group of small banks includes banks operating only in Tashkent (or only in one region).

Among 17 large banks, Kapitalbank still holds the lead, having held it since the II quarter of 2020. In particular, the volume of term bank deposits increased by 27.1% compared to the previous period and amounted to 5.8 trillion soums. The ratio of term deposits to the total amount of loans reached 90% (banking system - 24%).

The share of deposits and loans from other banks and financial organizations in total liabilities was 4.2%, and the share of funds received from the Ministry of Finance was 5.5%. These indicators show that Kapitalbank is actively working with the population and business.

Hamkorbank retained its position and continues to hold the 2nd place in the overall rating. The bank achieved high results in terms of financial affordability, asset quality and profitability. In particular, the volume of time deposits increased by 21.6% and amounted to 2.6 trillion soums. The number of legal entities that received loans for one branch of the bank reached 424, the number of individuals - 4,716 people. The ratio of total profit to assets was 19.2% (banking system - 10.5%). The share of problem loans as of 1 September decreased by 31.7% and amounted to 184.2 billion soums (banking system - 6%).

Trustbank closes the top three of the most active banks, maintaining its leadership in terms of capital adequacy, profitability and liquidity.

Among the largest banks with state shares, Khalq Bank dropped by 3 points to 14th position in the overall rating, despite the fact that the bank continues to hold the 5th place in financial intermediation since the beginning of the year. The main reasons were the relative deterioration in the quality of the bank’s assets (17th place), management efficiency (17th place) and profitability (13th place).

Another bank with a state-owned stake, Aloqabank, lost 1 point, dropping to 7th place in the overall rating. The main reason for this is the increase in the share of problem loans to 6.3% in the bank’s portfolio.

Two large banks, Agrobank and Turonbank, showed rapid growth in this quarter. They improved their position by three points each.

Leaders in the overall rating of activity of 14 small banks of Uzbekistan in the III quarter became Davrbank, Ziraatbank and Universalbank, respectively.

Two foreign banks have also improved their positions in the overall rating of small banks by one point each, these are Tenge Bank and KDB Uzbekistan.

According to the CERR methodology, management performance indicators are based solely on quantitative measurement and are calculated as net profit / loss divided by the number of employees in the bank. It should be noted that TBC Bank and Anor Bank began their activities in the IV quarter of 2020 and are currently in the process of formation. Thus, operating costs are expected to remain at a high level until banks are fully adapted to the market.