DUSHANBE, January 13, 2012, Asia-Plus — In 2011, Tajikistan’s savings bank, Amonatbonk, provided 213.5 million somoni (equivalent to some 45 million U.S. dollars) in loans, which is 43 percent more than in 2010, the Amonatbonk chairperson Gulnora Hasanova announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 12.
“As of January 1, 2012, the remainder of the bank’s loan portfolio amounted to 280.6 million somoni,” said Hasanova. “The weighted-average interest rate on loans provided by the bank last year was 20.6 percent.”
According to her, microloans (loans up to 50,000 U.S. dollars) accounted for 49.7 percent of the overall volume of loans provided by the bank in 2011.
She also noted that Amonatbonk’s capital assets have reached more than 1 billion somoni by January 1, 2012. An aggregate capital of the Tajik savings bank has reached 138.6 million somoni by January 1, 2012 and Amonatbonk’s net profit amounted to 12.2 million somoni in 2011. “In 2011, the bank realized a 12.2 million somoni net profit,” Hasanova said.
Amonatbonk is the only state-owned bank. It is one of the oldest in Tajikistan (established in 1925) and one of the largest based upon various criteria – including the number of branches and the number of served clients. The institution is unique in its orientation towards implementing social, pension and other state programs. Amonatbonk has 5 regional centers, 69 branches and nearly 500 agencies. This gives the institution a presence in the most remote mountainous parts of the country.
