Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- In 2020, the volume of bank cash turnover in Uzbekistan made up 360.1 trillion soums, an increase of 25.4% compared to 2019, the Central Bank of Uzbekistan said in a statement.

The volume of cash receipts to bank cash desks made up 179.9 trillion soums, and cash consumption 180.2 trillion soums.

Banks’ cash inflows were down 26% compared to the first quarter, and as a result of increased economic activity following the easing of quarantine requirements in the fourth quarter, they increased by 76%.

The growth in the volume of cash receipts in the fourth quarter versus the second quarter was mainly 12.4 trillion soums accounted for trade and paid services, and 6.2 trillion soums for receipts from banking services.

In 2020, there was an increase in the consumption of cash through bank cash desks (including ATMs) by 25% compared to 2019, which was mainly due to an increase in the volume of cash withdrawn from bank cards by 25.6 trillion soums (1.7 times).

As a result, the share of cash withdrawn from bank cards reached in the structure of banks’ cash flow from 25% to 34%. The reason for this was the expansion of the volume of payment of wages and social payments through plastic cards.

In particular, if in January 2020 pensions were paid by plastic cards 17 percent, wages 66 percent, then at the end of the year in December 31 percent of pension payments, as well as 83% of wages were transferred to bank cards.

In general, in 2020 the amount of funds transferred to bank cards made up 180.5 trillion soums, while the population cashed funds from bank cards in the amount of 62.2 trillion soums (34.4%).

The total number of banknotes in the structure of cash in circulation declined at a significant level, mainly due to an increase in the share of banknotes with large denominations.

In particular, in 2020, the share of banknotes in the structure of cash issued in circulation by size in soums, banknotes of 100,000 soums reached - from 12.5% to 27.3%. At the same time, the share of banknotes of 50,000 soums decreased - from 40.1% to 38.8%, 10,000 soums - from 20.3% to 15.7%, 5,000 soums - from 22.6% to 16.1 %, up to 1,000 soums - from 4.5% to 2.1%.

As a result, the number of banknotes in circulation decreased by 1.1 billion pieces, or 30.1%.

Reducing the number of banknotes in circulation serves to create convenience for the population in cash payments, and for banks to work in cash, in particular, to facilitate the processes of counting, sorting and packing.

At the same time, for use in retail trade and provision of services to the population in settlements as a return of change (small money), during 2020, additional coins were issued in the amount of 17.1 billion soums, and their share reached in the structure cash in circulation from 0.08% to 0.13%.