DUSHANBE, October 24, 2014, Asia-Plus -- The remainder of loans provided by Tajik banks rose nearly 30 percent in a year to September 30, 2014, reaching more than 9.1 billion somoni (equivalent to more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars), according to the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT).

In September 2014, the weighted average interest rate for loans provided in the national currency was 24.72 percent and the weighted average interest rate for loans provided in foreign currencies was 23.30 percent, Tajik central bank noted.

The volume of micro  loans provided over the first nine months of this year has reportedly risen 29 percent compared to the same period last year.

Over the same nine-month period, 839.3 million somoni have been provided in microloans to entrepreneurs in remote mountain areas, which was 25.7 percent more than in the same period last year.

According to Tajik central bank, 141 lending organizations, including 17 banks, one non-bank credit institution, 41 microloan deposit organizations, 43 microloan organizations and 39 microloan funds now operate in Tajikistan.