Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Pursuant to Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan dated November 28, 2019 No. UP-5886 “On Additional Measures to Improve Mortgage Lending Mechanisms”, the Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan approved the Concept for Allocation of Mortgage Loans to the Population for the acquisition of apartments in multi-apartment buildings based on market principles, according to which, under the new procedure, the requirements for individual borrowers and commercial banks participating in mortgage loans.

Potential applicants for a mortgage may be individuals who must meet the following requirements:

- citizens of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the day of filing an application for a mortgage loan have reached the age of 18 years and whose age does not exceed 50 years;

- have a permanent job, a steady income from personal subsidiary or dekhan farms, or from individual entrepreneurial activity, sufficient for the monthly payment of accrued interest and repayment of the main debt on a mortgage loan according to the payment schedule;

- maintain the ratio of the amount of the average monthly payments of the borrower for all loans and microloans (including the mortgage loan to be received), i.e. debt ratio at the level of not more than 70 percent;

- not have on the date of consideration of the application for a mortgage loan overdue loans for loans previously received from credit institutions.

Participating commercial banks must meet the following requirements:

- have developed a specific internal procedure for the provision of mortgage loans under the new procedure;

- have a long-term credit rating of at least “B” from rating agencies “Fitch Ratings” or “Standard & Poor’s”, or “B2” from “Moody’s Investors Service”;

- have a positive opinion of the audit organization regarding the financial statements for the last three years;

- the absence of arrears on funds provided from the state budget, as well as financial resources allocated by the Ministry of Finance in accordance with the new procedure;

- the lack of existing measures of sanction and sanctions as a result of violations of prudential standards established by the Central Bank;

- have regulatory capital of at least 500 billion soums.