TASHKENT (Xinhua) — Foreign investors can now buy up to 5% the shares of the Uzbek commercial banks without prior consent of the country’s central bank, the justice ministry said Monday.

The ministry said that this has become possible following the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers that simplified the procedures for buying shares of the Uzbek banks by foreign investors.

The move would benefit the investment climate and remove bureaucratic restrictions for foreign investors, the Agency for the Development of the Capital Market said.

Uzbekistan has been carrying out economic reforms for the past two years to make the country attractive for foreign investors.