Sanjar Nosirov: Baku and Tashkent discussing issues of Islamic finance regulation — EXCLUSIVE

The central banks of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan are discussing cooperation in the development and regulation of Islamic finance, Sanjar Nosirov, Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, told Report's correspondent on the sidelines of the Tashkent Investment Forum.

"The Azerbaijani side is actively interested in studying the regulation of Islamic finance, and work in this direction is ongoing," he said.

He noted that Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan are already cooperating across multiple areas of financial sector regulation.

"We cooperate with the regulator of Azerbaijan (Central Bank - ed.) on several issues - not only macroprudential policy, but also prudential regulation, licensing, and other areas," Nosirov said.

According to him, discussions are being held at various platforms with the participation of specialized teams from both countries, including issues related to licensing for Azerbaijani investors entering the Uzbek market.

"You may hear about new agreements on licensing and prudential regulation at this forum (the Tashkent Investment Forum - ed.)," he added.

Nosirov also said that the Central Bank of Uzbekistan has announced the introduction of an inflation targeting regime, noting that the country aims to reduce inflation to 5% by the end of next year.