Criteria for Evaluating the Project Financing Practice of Commercial Banks (FINANCE MONEY AND CREDIT)

Summary

• Sberbank's net interest margin rose from 5.4% in 2020 to 6.2% in 2024, an increase of 0.8 percentage points.p.4
• BNP Paribas's net interest margin was 1.2% in 2020 and 1.5% in 2024.p.4
• The share of long-term loans in Russian banks' foreign-currency investment lending ranged between 74.9% and 90.7% over 2020-2024.p.4
• In Uzbekistan the average rate on national-currency investment loans over one year was 22.5% in 2021 and 22.9% in 2025.p.5
• The average rate on foreign-currency long-term investment loans rose from 7.0% in 2021 to 9.9% in 2025.p.5

Key insights

1. A presidential speech at the Tashkent investment forum set goals of raising high-tech industrial output 2.5 times, unlocking $20 billion of investment potential, creating 15 thousand high-income jobs and producing 130 types of new products.p.2
2. The long-term loan share in Russian banks' foreign-currency lending fell to 74.9% in 2023 and then reached 90.7% in 2024.p.4
3. Sberbank's margin did not rise steadily, as it dipped to 5.3% in 2021 before increasing again.p.4
4. The national-currency investment loan rate in Uzbekistan rose by 2.3 percentage points from 2022 to 2025.p.5
5. Assuming a universal 4.5% international mandatory norm for net interest margin across all banks is not correct.p.5
6. Asakabank's non-performing loan share in 2025 was 0.8 percentage points above its 2021 level.p.6