According to the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, the volume of cash in circulation in April increased by 5.3 trillion soums and amounted to 33.1 trillion soums. This is a record monthly increase since February 2013.
The last time such a sharp increase in cash in circulation was observed during the pandemic – in May 2020 (+2.5 trillion soums).
There is an increase in almost all indicators of monetary aggregates, except for deposits in foreign currency, which decreased by 409 billion soums and amounted to 43.8 trillion soums.
The broad money supply (M2) increased by 12.5 trillion soums to 145.2 trillion soums, while the money supply in the national currency increased by 12.9 trillion soums to 101.3 trillion soums.
M2 (excluding the banking system) includes remittances, deposits and time deposits of other financial institutions in national and foreign currencies, public cash, private sector and individuals in circulation.
Financier Otabek Bakirov noted that the growth of money supply also contributed to the growth of balances on correspondent accounts, the total balance of correspondent accounts increased by 6.3 trillion soums to 21.8 trillion soums during the month.
Reportedly, due to the sharp increase in demand for cash, which began in the second half of March, the Central Bank issued 1.12 trillion soums in March, 6.34 trillion soums in April and 1.1 trillion soums in the last 11 days of May.
Part of the funds was directed to meet the demand for cash foreign currency conversion, and part to the cashing of funds – on bank cards.
