68% of small businesses have a credit history, but only one in four actually uses credit.

Sixty-eight percent of small businesses have a credit history, but only one in four actually uses credit.

In Uzbekistan, the credit information database for small and medium-sized businesses is significantly larger than the number of companies actually using credit products. According to the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, approximately 68% of SMEs are registered with a credit bureau, while only about 24% have an active credit account with a bank or microfinance institution.

According to the pilot financial inclusion index, lending remains the most widely covered area when assessing the financial inclusion of small and medium-sized businesses: the credit product availability index scored 50 out of 100.

The Central Bank notes that the closeness of the credit bureau coverage indicator (68%) to the share of businesses with a bank account indicates widespread business involvement in the banking system and a well-established credit information database. However, this involvement has not yet translated into an equivalent level of actual lending.

Meanwhile, the level of credit product utilization by businesses is rated higher at 64 points: small and medium-sized businesses account for 34% of issued bank loans and 36% of banks' total loan portfolios.

However, only about a quarter of the segment's entities have an active credit account, meaning that a significant portion of financing is concentrated in a relatively small group of companies already involved in credit relationships.

A separate challenge is the digitalization of the loan application process: only about 5% of microloans for small and medium-sized businesses are issued entirely through online channels.

The Central Bank considers the combination of credit history and turnover data a key tool for expanding business lending, including to those with limited collateral or no credit history.