Manas closure to cause budget difficulties in Kyrgyzstan - IMF
By Aynur Jafarova
Closure of the Manas Transit Center in 2014 will cause difficulties for Kyrgyz state budget, International Monetary Fund's (IMF) official Christian Beddis said at the meeting on the results of the IMF report on Kyrgyzstan on October 2.
He noted that the Kyrgyz government pays special attention to the budget consolidation in 2013 and continues improving the tax administration and management of state finance.
"The Kyrgyz government firmly intends to strengthen the tax policy and outline measures on overcoming the consequences of continual fall of the incomes related to the closure of the Manas Transit Center," he noted. "Therefore, the 2014 budget is based on conservative forecasts for incomes, restraint towards non-priority expenditures as well as social arguments. In 2014, it is expected that the overall budget deficit will fall to 4.1 percent of GDP."
The Transit Center, formerly called a military base, was opened at the Manas airport in late 2001. The center is a major logistics hub for transportation of goods and the anti-terror coalition forces to Afghanistan. At present, it accommodates about 1,200 U.S. soldiers. According to Pentagon statistics, the base handles up to 15,000 coalition servicemen and 500 tons of cargo a month.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Jantoro Satybaldiyev said earlier that the withdrawal of the U.S. airbase from the Manas Transit Center will start in July 2014.
"The agreement on the denunciation was ratified by Jogorku Kenesh [Kyrgyz Parliament] and signed by the president. The coalition forces will withdraw in July 2014," he said.
According to him, negotiations on the establishment of a hub in the transit center are underway with Turkey, Russia and other countries.
Kyrgyz statistics show that the airport serves 1.1 million passengers a year. If it suspends its main activity, the figure will drop to 300,000-400,000 people, and the airport will sustain a loss of $7.65 million annually.
Earlier the Kyrgyz parliament supported a bill on the denunciation of the agreement between the governments of Kyrgyzstan and the U.S. on Manas Transit Center in three readings. According to the bill, the transit center halts its activity in Kyrgyzstan on July 11, 2014.