DUSHANBE, October 1, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- On Wednesday September 30, President Emomali Rahmon presided over a meeting with participation of heads of central bank, commercial banks and the economic bloc ministries, according to presidential press service.

The meeting reviewed the results of work of the country’s banking system over the first eight months of this year and set specific tasks for improvement of its activities and supporting banks under the conditions of the global financial crisis.

Speaking at the meeting, chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) Sharif Rahimzoda and heads of commercial banks noted that Inflation for January-August this year stood at 4 percent, which was 7.9 percent fewer than in the same period of last year.

The meeting participants noted that the volumes of investments of legal and physical entities rose 31.8 and 209.8 percent respectively in the year to August 31, 2009.   The overall volumes of loans provided over the report period have amounted 2.9 billion somoni, including 1.1 billion somoni provided in small loans.

13 banks and 121 microfinance organizations currently operate in Tajikistan .   20 new branches, 4 agencies, 88 money transfer outlets and 29 mcirolending organizations have been opened in the country over the first eight months of this year.