Uzbekistan, Tashkent, March 22 / Trend D. Azizov /
The income of the Uzbek commercial banks received from providing loans through the resources of a special concessional lending fund from April 1, 2011 to January 1, 2016 is exempt from profit tax for legal entities.
This is stated in the decree of Uzbek President Islam Karimov "Additional measures on increasing lending to small business and private entrepreneurship", published in the mass media on Tuesday.
According to the current legislation, special concessional funds lending small business are formed in commercial banks at the expense of 25 percent deducted from the net profit of banks in Uzbekistan.
The tax rate on profits of commercial banks is set at 15 percent.
Roughly 231.700 small enterprises and micro firms operated in Uzbekistan in 2010 compared to 224.200 the previous year (growth - by 3.3 percent).
According to the Uzbek Central Bank, the volume of credits allocated for small business and private entrepreneurship by the banks of the Republic increased by 1,4 times up to 2.7 trillion soums in 2010, compared to the previous year. The Uzbek commercial banks plan to increase lending to small business and private enterprise at their own expense by 30 percent - up to 3.6 trillion soums in 2011.
At present, the banking system of Uzbekistan is represented by 32 banks, including three state, five with foreign capital, 11 joint-stock and 13 private.
The total assets of commercial banks in Uzbekistan increased by 32.1 percent up to 20.739 trillion soums in 2010 compared to 2009, the total loan portfolio - 35 percent up to 11.539 trillion soums, the aggregate bank capital - by 36.2 percent up to 4.1 trillion soums.
The official exchange rate is 1674,18 soums per $1.