Moody's: Uzbekistan's banking system outlook remains stable

     The Central Bank of Uzbekistan jointly with Moody's held the regular annual conference on issues of obtaining international ratings by commercial banks, the introduction of international standards of analysis and evaluation of the activities of banks.
     The event was organized in the framework of the Presidential Resolution "On priorities for further reform and improve the stability of the financial and banking system in 2011-2015 and achieving high international ratings".
The conference was attended by senior officials and managers of commercial banks.
     As was noted during the event, as a regulator of the banking system, the Central Bank held a number of consistent measures aimed at achieving the highest international ratings, to increase financial stability, to implement of international standards of evaluation and analysis of commercial banks and to increase investment capacity through expanding participation of banks in the international financial markets.
     At the conference were considered issues related to the analysis of the financial statements of banks and methodology of Moody's ratings, as well as the possibility of introducing a modern system of assessment of commercial banks activities based on international norms and standards.
     In particular, the experts of Moody's presented a detailed explanation of the methodology of their own methodology of assigning credit ratings, as well as shared opinion on the effectiveness of reforms in the Uzbek banking sector.
     Moody's noted that they are currently working with six CIS countries: Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, of which only two countries, including Uzbekistan, have a "stable" outlook.
     Recall that in August 2013, Moody's published a report "The Outlook for the Uzbek banking system”, in which the agency confirms the "stable" outlook for the fourth consecutive year.
     The main factor determining this outlook is sustained economic growth of the country, providing favorable conditions and operating environment for banks during the forecast period of 12-18 months.
     In addition, the key positive factors, according to Moody's, are stable world prices for major export commodities of Uzbekistan, significant capital investments by both public and private sectors, quality of assets and capitalization, stable liquidity figures, capital growth through internal resources, good profitability, the government's ability to support systemically important banks.
     In recent years, considerable work has been accomplished in the country to further improve the stability of the financial and banking system. The banking system indicators of Uzbekistan not only meet the requirements of international standards, but also on a number of norms have a strong position.
     As a result, currently, all commercial banks have ratings from Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings, confirming the stability and steady growth of Uzbek banks.
     Recommendations elaborated during the conference will further extend reforms and improve the stability of the banking system in the country and improve the approach and system of evaluation of commercial banks on the basis of standards and performance indicators of leading rating agencies, which will increase the level of organization of the banking activities in accordance with international experience.

UzReport 06.03.2014