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Uzbek
The Central Bank has tried to reassure concerned Uzbeks following the introduction of a controversial law that proposes the cancellation of the 100-percent guarantee on bank deposits, limiting it to 200 million soums. To prevent people from rushing to withdraw their deposits, the regulator announced that the new law would not apply to deposits made before its adoption.
The Central Bank noted that to minimize the negative impacts of the 2008 financial crises, many countries, including Uzbekistan, implemented a practice of fully guaranteeing deposits. After the financial crisis passed, many countries abandoned the full guarantee system and transitioned to limited guarantees.
Currently, the system of full deposit guarantees is only in effect in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Belarus, while other countries have established upper limits on deposit guarantees.
Representatives of the regulator emphasized that Uzbeks who are willing to deposit more than 200 million soums can do so in different banks, and each of these deposits will be guaranteed by the state. Thus, for example, instead of one guaranteed deposit of 600 million soums, you will now need to make three deposits of 200 million soums in different banks.
Moreover, the new law shortens the period for returning funds to clients after the liquidation of a bank. The current period is 2 months and 23 days, but once the new law comes into force, it will be set at 20 working days, with a reduction to 15 working days starting January 1, 2026, and 7 working days starting January 1, 2027.
It should be noted that the law has not yet been passed; it still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the president.
Earlier, well-known economist Yuliy Yusupov pointed out that 100-percent deposit guarantees pose significant risks to the country’s banking system. Other countries have encountered problems related to unlimited guarantees for depositors, and this indeed proved to be dangerous.
The text has been translated by AI. For more accurate information, please refer to the Russian version of the article.
