BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, March 6. Kyrgyzstan saw a significant increase in the value of cross-border payments in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Data obtained by Trend from the country's National Bank shows that the total value of incoming cross-border payments reached 3.9 trillion soms ($45.2 billion), which is a 30 percent increase compared to the same period of 2023.
However, outgoing payments totaled 4.146 trillion soms ($47.4 billion), marking a 60 percent rise over the fourth quarter of the preceding year.
The majority of these transactions were conducted through the SWIFT messaging system, which is the global standard for secure international financial messaging and facilitates money transfers between banks across different countries.
The National Bank of Kyrgyzstan has introduced a new regulatory measure, effective from the end of September 2024. The measure imposes a one-year restriction on financial institutions under the supervision of the National Bank from accepting payment orders or conducting transactions related to contracts involving goods, works, and services from or to foreign countries unless there is actual delivery of the goods or services within Kyrgyzstan. The exception applies to authorized state-owned companies as determined by the Kyrgyz government.
As many as 21 commercial banks were operating in Kyrgyzstan with 304 branches across the country as of December 31, 2024. Among them, five commercial banks provided services under Islamic banking principles, conducting operations in both national and foreign currencies.