Ways to Develop Securities Investment Operations of Commercial Banks

The paper looks at how commercial banks in Uzbekistan invested in securities in 2020–2025, using data from Aloqabank, Ipak Yuli Bank, Turonbank, Poytakht Bank and Xalq Banki. We used horizontal, vertical and ratio analysis, compound annual growth rates, the Herfindahl–Hirschman index and simple correlation. Across the banking system, the investment and securities portfolio grew three times faster than total assets (61.2 % against 20.4 % a year). In the five banks it went up from UZS 1.05 trillion to UZS 17.53 trillion, and its share of assets rose from 2.1 % to 13.0 %. Interest income from securities now makes up 7.1 % of total income, compared with 1.3 % in 2020. At the same time, most of the portfolio sits in one bank, trading portfolios are close to zero, and interest rate risk is growing. Based on these findings, we suggest ways to diversify portfolios, develop the secondary and repo markets and manage interest rate risk more closely.