Some 33.5 billion soums were directed to projects of small and private businesses, which allowed to create 15,500 new jobs.

At the same time, the bank said that businesswomen received 13.3 billion soums of credit resources in Karakalpakstan in the reporting period.

Central Bank said that the graduates of professional colleges received preferential loans for over 1 billion soums, which allowed them to launch own business.

The loans for 22.2 billion soums were issued to enterprises, which were planning to expand production of food products, purchase modern equipment, raw materials and others.

The projects, directed at equipping enterprises with technologic equipment, producing industrial goods, received resources for 21.5 billion soums. Due to loans and leasing services, small enterprises received new equipment and technologies, etc.

The bank said that some 487,000 banking payment cards were issued in Karakalpakstan, while the banks installed 5,027 POS-terminals. The transactions rose 2.2 times year-on-year and reached 484.7 billion soums.