In the first half of 2026, the supply of foreign currency on Uzbekistan's domestic market grew faster than demand, according to a review by the Central Bank.
Total demand for foreign currency reached nearly $32 billion, up 20%. Excluding Central Bank operations, supply rose 31% to $27.8 billion.
Demand from legal entities amounted to $25.2 billion, 19% more than in January-June 2025. Individuals purchased $6.8 billion worth of foreign currency, 26% higher than the previous year.
For comparison, total demand for foreign currency in the first half of 2025 was $26.6 billion, and in the same period of 2024 it was $22.4 billion. Thus, over two years it increased by almost 43%.
Excluding Central Bank operations, the volume of foreign currency supply on the domestic market reached $27.8 billion, compared to $21.1 billion a year earlier (+31.3%). In the first half of 2024, this figure was $17.2 billion.
Of the total supply, $13.5 billion came from legal entities and banks, $12.3 billion from individuals, and about $2 billion from the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Reconstruction and Development Fund.
The Central Bank noted that additional liquidity arising from its monetary gold operations was sterilized through foreign exchange operations under the neutrality principle and other monetary policy instruments.
In January-June, demand for foreign currency by legal entities increased by 19% year-on-year, while supply rose by 29%.
Currency supply formed from export revenues of business entities grew by 30% to $10.1 billion. Of this amount, $5.6 billion (55%) was sold on the domestic foreign exchange market.
Compared to the first half of 2025, the volume of sold export proceeds increased by $1.2 billion, or 26.4%.
At the same time, importers' dependence on purchasing currency on the domestic market increased. The share of funds purchased through conversion to finance imports rose from 63.1% in January-June 2025 to 67.2% in the first half of 2026.
The share of companies' own foreign currency funds in financing imports decreased from 23.7% to 22.6%, and the share of foreign currency loans fell from 13.2% to 10.2%.
In the first half of the year, $9.28 billion in international money transfers arrived in Uzbekistan (+13%), while $1.33 billion was sent abroad. The population sold $12.3 billion in foreign currency to banks (almost +40%) and purchased $6.8 billion.
The Central Bank noted that the increase in remittances, export revenues, and currency supply from legal entities contributed to the relative stability of the exchange rate in the first half of the year.
Source: www.gazeta.uz