EMERGING PATHWAYS OF ISLAMIC MICROFINANCE IN UZBEKISTAN: POLICY, PRACTICE AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

Over the past two decades, the introduction of Islamic finance has become one of the important directions of state policy in Uzbekistan. The country’s accession to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in 1996 and to the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in 2003 marked the beginning of formal cooperation with international Islamic financial institutions. Since then, a number of projects have been launched, particularly in support of small and medium enterprises, but the lack of a comprehensive regulatory framework delayed the full integration of Islamic finance into the national financial system [1]. Only after 2016, with a wave of institutional and economic reforms, did the focus on Islamic finance intensify.