TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, January 31. Standard & Poor's (S&P Global Ratings) confirmed the rating of Uzbekistan's Kapitalbank at the level of B with the forecast "stable" at the end of 2023, Trend reports.
Analysts of S&P Global Ratings noted the high brand recognition of Kapitalbank and a wide network of regional branches, as well as the bank's focus on retail business and its importance for Uzbekistan's financial system.
Experts expect that the bank will maintain a stable market position as the largest private bank in the country, specializing in providing services to small and medium-sized businesses and retail clients, maintaining a significant presence in the regions, and having a well-recognized brand.
These factors, as well as competent risk management, high operational efficiency, and active digitalization of services, will allow Kapitalbank to maintain a high ability to generate profits and expand its business.
Kapitalbank is the largest private bank in Uzbekistan in terms of assets; its clients are more than 1.6 million individuals and more than 50,000 entrepreneurs. More than 100 branches of the bank operate in all regions of Uzbekistan. All ATMs at the bank accept cards from both national and international payment systems.
Earlier, S&P Global Ratings estimated that Uzbekistan's usable foreign exchange reserves will marginally decline through 2026 due to lower gold prices and ongoing current account deficits.
“One of the most significant reforms in that regard was the liberalization of the exchange rate regime in September 2017 to a managed float from a crawling peg, which was heavily overvalued compared with the parallel-market rate. The Central Bank of Uzbekistan (CBU) intervenes in the foreign exchange market intermittently to smooth volatility and mitigate the increase in local currency from its large gold purchases," the rating agency said.
