Timur Ishmetov has been appointed the new chairperson of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan. On Wednesday, the Senate approved his candidature, proposed by president Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Timur Ishmetov succeeded Mamarizo Nurmuratov, who served as the Central Bank chairperson from June 2017.
About Timur Ishmetov
Born in Tashkent in 1979, Timur Ishmetov graduated from Tashkent Financial Institute with a degree in finance and credit in 2000. He earned a Master’s degree in international money and banking from the University of Birmingham in 2005 and a law degree from Tashkent State University of Law in 2007.
Ishmetov began his career in 2000 as an economist at the Central Bank. Over the years, he held several key roles, including heading Monetary Operations Department, International Reserves Management Department, Domestic Foreign Exchange Market Operations Department and Currency Regulation and Control Department.
From 2017 to 2019, he served as first deputy chairperson of the Central Bank. Subsequently, Ishmetov was appointed first deputy minister of finance from 2019 to 2020, working under Mamarizo Nurmurodov. From 2020 to 2022, he served as minister of finance.
Since December 2022, he was first deputy advisor to the president on the development of economic sectors, investments and foreign trade policy (later on economic development) under Ravshan Gulyamov.
Ishmetov has been a strong proponent of privatizing banks and other inefficient state-owned assets, emphasizing the need to reduce the state’s role in the economy. “As the Ministry of Finance, we will eliminate dependents who constantly demand money and resources, as they only burden the budget,” he stated earlier, highlighting the high costs of maintaining such entities.
As minister of finance, he launched the Open Budget portal with a section for participatory budgeting and was vocal in criticizing local authorities for financial mismanagement.
He also emphasized the importance of inclusive economic growth, arguing that previous economic policies had “benefited only a small segment of the population”. Ishmetov has advocated for “improving productivity, creating a competitive environment and investing in human capital to equip young people with skills aligned with business needs”.
In November 2022, Ishmetov noted that attracting external debt had become expensive and that Uzbekistan needed to focus on structural reforms to shift its economic policy toward utilizing private investments instead of relying on state funds and borrowings.
Additionally, he stressed the importance of fiscal discipline, calling for a reduction in the budget deficit. “Our policy must be coordinated to combat inflation,. even if it requires cutting all expenses. It’s for the greater good,” he stated.
About Mamarizo Nurmuratov
Mamarizo Nurmuratov, 64, was appointed head of the Central Bank in June 2017, after the death of Faizulla Mullajanov, who served as chairperson for 26 years. In May 2022, Nurmuratov’s term was extended by the Senate for five more years.
He is a graduate of the Tashkent Institute of National Economy and the Leningrad Economics and Finance Institute.
He started his career at the Central bank in 1993. He worked on different positions, including as director of the CB’s Scientific Research Center, deputy chairperson and the first deputy chairperson.
During 2000−2004, Nurmuratov was finance minister of Uzbekistan, in 2004−2006, he was head of Samarkand region and in 2006−2017, he served as CB chairperson’s advisor.
Under Nurmuratov, in 2017 Uzbekistan started to liberalize the currency policy, with introduction of a single market currency rate. Before the reform, there were several parallel exchange rates and a huge black currency market. The individuals can not freely buy and sell foreign currency in banks at a market rate. Legal entities became able to convert foreign currency to pay for imports, dividends and other expenses. After these measures, the back market virtually disappeared (though it later emerged again and exists in some form), while exporters started to freely use their foreign currency earnings without obligatory sale of its part to the state.
