Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- From 1 July, Uzbekistan is tightening the requirements for issuing loans to the population.

The Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Mamarizo Nurmuratov, signed a corresponding resolution on 21 February.

The regulator introduced a new indicator - the debt burden of the population. The debt burden will be calculated through the ratio of average monthly loan payments to the borrower’s average monthly income.

The debt burden is defined as the share of the borrower’s average monthly income, reduced by taxes, required to pay off all of his existing loans and borrowings. This indicator aims to assess how capable a borrower is of repaying his loans on time.

A low debt burden indicates that the borrower has sufficient funds to pay loans on time. A high level, on the contrary, may indicate over-indebtedness, when the borrower is forced to spend a significant portion of his income on debt service.

Currently in Uzbekistan, this requirement applies only to microloans and is 50%. From 1 July 2024, when issuing all types of loans (including microloans), banks will have to ensure that the debt burden of their clients does not exceed 60%.

Thus, banks will refuse to issue a loan if the borrower spends 60% of his income to repay the loan. From 1 January 2025, this figure will be reduced to 50%.

At the same time, there will be exceptions regarding debt burden. For example, a bank will be able to issue loans (including microloans) without taking into account the debt burden of the borrower if such loans constitute less than 15% of the bank’s total loan portfolio.

When calculating income, the following data will be taken into account:
1. Salary.
2. Amount of pension.
3. Accumulated pension contributions.
4. Income received into bank accounts.
5. Paid taxes.
6. Interest, dividends, income from real estate rental.

The following factors will be taken into account when determining monthly payments:
- The full cost of the loan or microloan.
- Interest on the loan.
- Other known payments at the time of conclusion of the contract.

Borrowers will be considered both the borrower himself and the co-borrower, as well as the guarantor. It is important to note that if the loan term exceeds 36 months, then when calculating average monthly payments, the amount will be divided by 36 months. In the case of mortgage loans, this period increases to 180 months, instead of the previously stated 120 months.