In 2025, Tajikistan’s banking sector expanded at a double-digit pace: assets rose 36.6%, while the loan portfolio grew 47.2%. The expansion was driven by strong GDP growth, a surge in remittances, a stable national currency and the rollout of new digital services.
Assets
The sector’s performance reflected a favorable macroeconomic environment. By the end of 2025, Tajikistan’s GDP had increased 8.4%. Key drivers included rising gold exports amid record-high global prices and a sharp increase in remittances, which climbed 50% in the first nine months of 2025 to $5.8 billion — more than half of GDP.
Read also: Tajikistan set to introduce gold ATMs.
As a result, the National Bank of Tajikistan reported a balance-of-payments surplus of $1.6 billion, or 13.9% of GDP — an uncommon outcome for the country’s economy. Inflation remained below target at 3.5%, compared with the central bank’s 5% target range, plus or minus 2 percentage points. That allowed regulators to cut the refinancing rate to 7.5% from 9% over the course of the year.
Total banking-sector assets increased 36.6% in 2025 to 54.9 billion somoni, equivalent to 31.9% of GDP, up from 26% at the end of 2024. Growth reflected not only organic expansion but also structural changes: the two largest microfinance institutions — Humo and Imon International — received banking licenses. Together, they account for nearly 10% of total sector assets.
Among individual institutions, state-owned Amonatbonk remained the largest by assets, totaling 11 billion somoni at year-end 2025. Its assets grew 26.2%, below the market average of 36.6%. The bank’s market share continued to decline amid stronger private-sector competition. Its closest rivals — Eskhata Bank and International Bank of Tajikistan — expanded more rapidly, reaching 9.4 billion somoni (up 35.1%) and 6.1 billion somoni (up 56.6%), respectively.
Growth among second-tier banks — ranked fourth through 10th by assets — was uneven. Alif posted robust growth of 58.4%, while Dushanbe City grew in line with the market at 34.8%. Three banks in this group reported declines: Commerce Bank of Tajikistan saw assets fall 17.2%; Oriyonbonk declined 14%; and Spitamen Bank dropped 8.5%.
The top 10 also expanded to include Humo and Imon International. Their scale allowed them to enter the ranking immediately after obtaining banking licenses.
A separate highlight was Freedom Bank Tajikistan, which completed its technical launch phase and began full operations in fall 2025. Because of its recent market entry, performance is assessed quarterly. In the fourth quarter alone, the bank increased its portfolio 173.3%, making it the fastest-growing lender of the period.
Digital transformation
Much of that rapid growth stemmed from the introduction of digital products new to Tajikistan’s market. Freedom Bank Tajikistan launched the country’s first fully digital mortgage platform, moving every stage of the transaction — from credit scoring to biometric identification — online. The shift reduced mortgage approval times from 20 days to three.
The bank also introduced the «Kadam ba Kadam» savings mortgage program aimed at mass-market customers. Borrowers who save 20% of a home’s value at the bank qualify for a loan at a preferential, floating interest rate that declines as their savings increase.
Loan portfolio
The total loan portfolio increased 47.2% year-on-year to 24.1 billion somoni. Despite monetary easing, lending rates in somoni remained largely unchanged, averaging 22.6%, down just 30 basis points even as the refinancing rate was cut 150 basis points. The limited pass-through may reflect banks’ caution about the long-term sustainability of income growth and the durability of accommodative monetary policy.
Even so, elevated rates did not slow credit expansion. Total new lending reached 30 billion somoni in 2025, up 22.1% from a year earlier. Consumer lending grew a modest 9% but remained the largest segment, accounting for 42% of total loan originations. State-owned Amonatbonk continued to dominate this category, issuing loans to about 60,000 borrowers totaling 2.5 billion somoni in 2025, roughly half of which were consumer loans.
Among major industries, construction lending rose 37.7%, likely reflecting an ongoing building boom in Dushanbe. Loans to service-sector businesses increased 24%, while financing for foreign trade rose 19.2%. By contrast, lending to industrial enterprises declined 18.7%, as many companies shifted toward self-financing and foreign investment.
Deposits
In 2025, total deposits in Tajikistan’s banking system increased 40.9% year-on-year to more than 33 billion somoni, equivalent to 18.7% of GDP. With inflation at 3.5% in December, real returns on deposits denominated in the national currency ranked among the highest in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Rates on short-term deposits — up to one year — closely tracked changes in the refinancing rate, indicating that monetary policy transmission remains effective. Yields on longer-term deposits were less responsive to central bank decisions.
The deposit-to-asset ratio stood at 55.8% as of December 2025, a relatively low level that may signal lingering public distrust in the financial system. Confidence has been weighed down by the license revocations of two major lenders — Agroinvestbank and Tajiksodirotbank — whose legal proceedings have continued since 2021.
This caution is also reflected in persistently high cash circulation, as many households prefer to hold savings in foreign currency or gold.
Digitalization of the banking sector
Tajikistan is implementing a nationwide digital transformation strategy. By February 2026, authorities reported the full digitalization of the social insurance and pension system and the near completion of a facial-recognition system for pensioner identification. Government policy has encouraged banks to accelerate adoption of new technologies.
The mobile application of state-owned Amonatbonk — widely used by pensioners and depositors — now has more than 1 million users.
Digitalization is enabling private banks not only to challenge traditional market leaders but also to capture share from microfinance institutions and pawnshops.
Leading players such as Alif, Bank Eskhata, International Bank of Tajikistan and Freedom Bank Tajikistan are developing multifunctional mobile apps that integrate lending with everyday payments and loyalty programs. By building digital ecosystems, banks are competing more effectively with microfinance organizations and pawnshops that traditionally attracted customers through simplified underwriting requirements.
Freedom Bank Tajikistan operates under a neobank model, with most transactions conducted online. The digital-first structure reduces operating costs and, over time, could help lower retail lending rates across the market.
