Central Bank: currency supply in Uzbekistan is growing faster than demand, the gap has narrowed to $6.6 billion

In January–September 2026, demand for foreign currency on Uzbekistan's domestic market grew by 17.9% to $50.4 billion, while supply, excluding Central Bank operations, rose by 25.3% to $43.8 billion. The negative gap narrowed from $7.79 billion a year earlier to $6.6 billion. The main sources of supply are export revenue and currency sales by the population.

Aziz KarimovFirst published on tafs uz 2 November 2026 at 15:312 min read

The key facts

Demand for currency over nine months of 2026 was $50.4 billion (+17.9%), supply $43.8 billion (+25.3%), and the gap narrowed from $7.79 billion to $6.6 billion
Export revenue grew by 28.1% to $16.6 billion, of which $9.5 billion (57.2%) was sold on the domestic market
The population sold $18.9 billion to banks — 1.2 times more than a year earlier

The gap between demand and supply has narrowed

In January–September 2026, the supply of foreign currency on Uzbekistan's domestic market grew faster than demand, according to the Central Bank's review of the domestic foreign exchange market. Demand increased by 17.9% compared with the same period last year, to $50.4 billion, while supply, excluding the regulator's operations, rose by 25.3% to $43.8 billion. As a result, the negative gap between demand and supply narrowed from $7.79 billion a year earlier to $6.6 billion. Data provided by Spot.uz citing the regulator's review.

Who forms the currency supply

Supply notably outpaced demand from legal entities: over nine months, companies' demand for foreign currency grew by 15.3%, while its supply rose by 26.7%. An additional source of currency was export revenue, which increased by 28.1% to $16.6 billion. On the domestic market, $9.5 billion, or 57.2% of total export revenue, was sold — 33% (almost $2.4 billion) more than in January–September 2025. Another source was currency sales by the population: individuals sold $18.9 billion to commercial banks, compared with $15.3 billion over the first nine months of last year — a 1.2-fold increase.

The regulator's actions

The Central Bank also noted that the additional liquidity generated by monetary gold operations was sterilized through foreign exchange operations, in line with the regulator's neutrality principle and other monetary policy instruments. The narrowing gap between demand and supply means the currency shortage in the market is decreasing, although demand still exceeds supply excluding the Central Bank's operations. Earlier, Spot reported that Uzbekistan and four other countries plan to integrate their QR payment systems.