Uzbekistan and the Asian Development Bank have agreed to sign an agreement for two projects worth $650 million before the year-end, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Trade said.
Reportedly, the funds will be used to develop the mortgage market sector and support the budget.
The current ADB portfolio in Uzbekistan consists of 24 projects in infrastructure , energy, housing and utility services, healthcare, and agriculture worth $3.7 billion. As part of the business plan for the bank's country operations for 2022-2024, an agreement was reached on the joint implementation of 27 projects worth $2.8 billion.
In February, ADB approved a loan of almost $274 million to upgrade about 106 km of the road connecting Derbent and Denau in Surkhandarya and to reconstruct about 87 km of the Guzar-Bukhara-Nukus-Beineu highway.
At the beginning of the year, the mortgage refinancing company temporarily suspended the refinancing of new loans issued for the purchase of secondary housing. Due to high demand for mortgages, ADB funds of $150 million were disbursed a year early. It was reported that the Ministry of Finance and international institutions are working to raise additional funds.
In 2021, ADB became the main creditor of Uzbekistan. The state debt on loans from this bank as of January 1, 2022 is $5.2 billion (19.7% of the total debt).
