On 27 April, a round table on "Modern Monetary Policy: Full Employment, Stable Prices, and Economic Growth" was held as part of the first day of the Tashkent International Investment Forum.

The speakers of the event were Atabek Nazirov, Advisor to the Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan, Behzod Hamrayev, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Umid Abidkhodjaev, Director of the Institute for Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research, Shokhrukh Khakimov, First Deputy Chairman of Tenge Bank and Antonio Somma, Director of Whiteshield. Gapstone Group Senior Managing Director Alfredo de Angelis (Dino) served as moderator.

During the roundtable, the need for central banks and governments to carefully adjust their monetary and fiscal policies to maintain a delicate balance between curbing inflation and supporting economic growth was voiced. There was also a discussion of effective monetary policy mechanisms that regulators should apply to ensure price stability, employment, and economic growth, as well as the necessary measures to contain inflation.

Alfredo de Angelis, senior managing director of the Gapstone Group, began the event by outlining that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss monetary policy challenges.

One of them, according to Umid Abidkhodjaev, director of the Institute of Forecasting and Macroeconomic Research, is the tendency of Uzbekistan's population to value everything in dollars rather than the national currency.

Inflation was an important topic of discussion. Behzod Hamrayev, deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, noted in his speech that inflation in Uzbekistan is growing quite fast now, but not so much as in other developed countries.

Shokhrukh Khakimov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board of JSCB Tenge Bank, also touched on inflation and expressed his opinion about its presence in the country's economy:

I want to say that in my personal opinion there should not be a policy goal aimed at achieving lofty goals. If measures to combat inflation have a sharply negative impact on economic growth, then let inflation remain.”

Another important topic covered is issuing loans. Behzod Hamrayev pointed to a sharp rise in lending, which includes loans for cars, cars, and mortgages. The loan default rate is now less than 4 percent. The income of the population is growing every year, and if it continues this way, Uzbekistan's economy will steadily hold on and grow, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank said.

Shokhrukh Khakimov spoke about the positive development of the securities market in the country:

"Five years ago, the securities market was zero. In 2022, however, investment in securities by banks has tripled. However, corporate bonds are still a question of the future".

During the round table, it was pointed out that last year there was an interesting result in the banking sector. Banks have two important sources - borrowing from abroad and deposits. In 2022 the total amount of deposits on banks' balance sheets equaled and even exceeded borrowings from abroad. This has happened for the first time. Household deposits grew by 40 percent, a very serious increase. The banks are gradually moving toward the point where people start trusting them. This plays an important role in the development of the banking system.