Prospects for the Development of Securities in the Investment Portfolios of Commercial Banks

The article examines the composition, dynamics and development prospects of securities held in the investment portfolios of commercial banks. The investment portfolio is treated as a functional complement to the credit portfolio, performing four distinct functions — liquidity management, income diversification, collateral provision and interest-rate risk hedging. Using data on the banking sector of Uzbekistan for 2021–2025, the study analyses the structure of securities holdings, the relative weight of government and corporate instruments, portfolio concentration measured by the Herfindahl–Hirschman index, and the contribution of securities income to total bank revenue. The results indicate that bank investment portfolios remain narrowly concentrated in sovereign and central bank instruments, while corporate securities account for a modest although steadily growing share. A three-stage model of portfolio development is proposed, covering instrument diversification, maturity restructuring and the introduction of portfolio management techniques.