Asia-Plus: Долговая ловушка в Таджикистане как не пожалеть о кредите

Feature article by Asia-Plus (author Пайрав Чоршанбиев / Payrav Chorshanbiev), dated 16 March 2026, on personal-debt risks in Tajikistan. The article opens with the story of Акбар (Akbar), a 34-year-old Dushanbe taxi driver who reportedly took out a bank loan a year earlier to buy an electric vehicle. The article reports his account that he underestimated interest, commissions and payment schedules; that electricity and taxi-company fees nearly doubled over the past year; and that he now works with almost no days off to cover basic household expenses and loan payments. The article reports commentary from Шахбоз Рахимбеков (Shahboz Rakhimbekov), a financial analyst with years of experience in Tajikistan’s banking sector, who describes common borrower behaviour: rushing to obtain consumer loans without evaluating full cost or repayment capacity, taking loans in relatives’ names, borrowing from multiple institutions simultaneously, or using new loans to service old ones. The article reports that according to the National Bank of Tajikistan (Бонки миллии Тоҷикистон), consumer loans accounted for 40.1% of total loans issued in 2025, up 3.9 percentage points from 2024; the weighted average interest rate in 2025 was 22.6% in national currency and 11.7% in foreign currency (national-currency rate up 0.5 pp from 2024). The article reports, citing a study by “М-Вектор” commissioned by the National Bank of Tajikistan, that the population’s financial-literacy index rose only from 41% (2020) to 51% (2024). The article reports that Rakhimbekov cites cases of borrowers inflating salary certificates with employer assistance, risking loss of collateral. The article references a linked Asia-Plus item of 27 February 2026 on rising loan costs in Tajikistan. Sources cited: borrower Акбар, analyst Шахбоз Рахимбеков, National Bank of Tajikistan, “М-Вектор” survey, prior Asia-Plus reporting.