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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has forecasted GDP growth
in Uzbekistan in 2018-2019 at the level of 5 percent, and the
country's prospects are more closely linked to economic reforms,
Gazeta.uz quoted the Deputy Director of the Middle East and Central
Asia Department of the IMF Juha Kahkonen.
Kahkonen spoke t the presentation of the review entitled as the
“Regional Economic Outlook: Caucasus and Central Asia”.
The growth in the Central Asia and Caucasus region in 2018–2019
is expected to amount to 4 percent, which is well below the average
growth rate of 9 percent in the first decade of this century.
According to estimates of the IMF, the prospects for the
country's economic growth are more dependent on the reforms being
carried out than on the influence of external factors.
Kahkonen noted that the main challenge for Uzbekistan at the
moment is the reform of state-owned enterprises and the
corresponding price liberalization.
The Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan, Ilkhom
Norkulov, said that the government and the regulator expect GDP
growth at the level of 5.2–5.3 percent according to the results of
2018, and around 5.4 percent – the next year. The rate of inflation
is forecasted at 16–17 percent and 13–15 percent, respectively.
According to the data provided by the State Statistics Committee
of Uzbekistan, the inflation rate in the consumer market of
Uzbekistan at the end of 2017 was 14.4 percent compared to 5.7
percent in 2016.
Its growth by 2.5 times is associated with the devaluation of
the national currency sum and the liberalization of the country's
foreign exchange market. The country's GDP grew by 5.5 percent
according to the results of 2017.
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