Uzbekistan intends to get a $1 billion loan from the World Bank (WB) for mitigation of the impact of the foreign exchange market liberalization on the real sector and the social sector enterprises, the Gazeta.uz news website reported. An agreement on this was reached following the talks between Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and WB President Jim Yong Kim in New York Sept. 20, reads the Uzbek president’s “Decree on Measures to Further Strengthen and Develop Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the UN and its Structures, International Financial Institutions, and Other Foreign Policy Partners”, dated on September27.
Discussions on the preliminary terms of the loan should start in November, and a draft agreement should be submitted for approval to the WB Board of Directors in the second or third quarter of 2018. On September 5, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan devalued the national currency, the soum, by almost two times, setting the official exchange rate at 8,100 soums per USD, compared to 4,210.35 soums per USD on Sept. 4. Simultaneously, legal entities and individuals were allowed to freely sell and buy foreign currency under market prices.
