Uzbekistan's sovereign international bonds denominated in soums will be included in JPMorgan's GBI-EM index, which tracks local-currency government bonds of developing economies, starting September 30, 2026.
According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Uzbekistan is currently the only country among CIS states whose local-currency sovereign bonds are being added to the index.
The GBI-EM is one of the major international indexes covering local-currency bonds issued by emerging-market governments, widely used by international investors to guide investment decisions. According to the ministry, the index currently includes 20 developing countries, 13 of which hold investment-grade credit ratings.
About Uzbekistan's bonds
In 2026, Uzbekistan placed the equivalent of $1 billion (12.2 trillion soums) in three-year sovereign international bonds at a rate of 12.25%, on average 14 basis points below prevailing rates on the domestic financial market. The Ministry of Economy and Finance described the issuance as the largest local-currency transaction of its kind in the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region over the past 15 years.
The ministry said the country's inclusion in the GBI-EM index reflects growing confidence among international investors in Uzbekistan's economy, and will help broaden the investor base and lower borrowing costs when raising funds from external sources.
As an example, the ministry cited Paraguay, where borrowing costs for issuers fell by up to 1 percentage point after the country's local-currency sovereign bonds were added to the GBI-EM index.
Uzbekistan's domestic market for government securities has also developed in parallel, the ministry said. The weighted average rate on government bonds fell from 17.1% in 2022 to 12.6% in the first half of 2026, while the average maturity of outstanding bonds lengthened from 1.5 years to 2.35 years over the same period.
In the first half of 2026, medium-term treasury bonds accounted for 69% of placements and 63% of secondary-market trading. The share of treasury bonds within total public debt rose to 9%, while the share of local-currency debt increased to 12.2%.
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