Ministry of economy publishes report on results of socio-economic development of Uzbekistan for 2015.
The Ministry of economy of the Republic of Uzbekistan has published a report on the results of socio-economic development of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2015.According to the data presented in the report, the implementation of measures to deepen structural reforms, to stimulate and support enterprises of the real sector in the implementation of modernization and active diversification of leading industries, strengthening the material-technical base and infrastructure of agriculture, accelerate the development of modern services contributed to the growth of gross domestic product by 8%, industrial products – by 8.0%, agriculture products – 6.8% and construction works – by 17.8%.
The sustainability of economic growth was accompanied by a strengthening of macroeconomic stability, characterized by a decrease in inflation to 5.6%, a state budget surplus of 0.1% of GDP and positive trade balance.High economic activity and implementation of programs for improving employment contributed to the growth of real income per capita by 9.6% that along with measures to stimulate consumer demand has provided an increase in retail volumes by 15.1% and paid services to the population – 10.8%.
Due to the realization of active investment policy, aimed at deepening structural reforms based on the modernization, technical and technological renewal of production, accelerating the commissioning of crucial high-technology capacity, advanced development of transport and communication infrastructure, the volume of utilized investments in 2015 amounted to over 40.7 trillion soums, with a growth of 9.6 percent against 2014. (currency rates of CB RU from 09.02.2016, 1$= 2841.60 soums)Of the total volume of utilized investments worth $ 3.3 billion, or over 21% amounted to foreign investments and loans, with an increase of 9.1%, including 2.4 billion. – foreign direct investments. The amount of utilized by the Fund for reconstruction and development investments for implementation of major investment projects in strategic sectors of the economy comprised $728.6 million.Non-centralized investments had the largest amount in the total investment structure (78.2% of the total volume), of which 30.9% – own funds of economic entities (growth by 12.6%). This was due to active implementation of sectoral programs of diversification and competitiveness of industries, as well as the territorial programs of socio-economic development of regions.
Implementation of measures in the framework of the priority directions of further reforming and increasing the sustainability of financial-banking system of the Republic in 2011-2015 contributed to the preservation of the positive dynamics of growth of total bank capital by 23.3% and their assets by 25.1%. As a result, the capital adequacy of the banking system remained at the level exceeding the minimum international standards by 3 times, and the liquidity of the banking system – more than 2 times higher than the minimum requirements. The decline of the Central Bank refinancing rate from 10% to 9% since the beginning of 2015 had a stimulating effect on the growth of volumes of crediting of the economy by 27.3%, from the total amount of which 79.8% were long-term loans for investment purposes.
In the framework of the Program of measures on structural reforms, modernization and diversification of production for 2015-2019, the past year saw work on improvement of mechanisms aimed at improving the efficiency of investment processes. In total 158 major investment projects with a total value of $7.4 billion dollars were commissioned in the reporting period, including “Construction of Ustyurt GCC on the basis of field “Surgil””, “Expansion of production of soda ash at Kungrad soda factory”, “Organization of production of energy-saving led lighting products on the territory of Jizzakh SIZ”, “Organization of production of vehicles in the Khorezm region”, “Organization of production of plastic materials and accessories for footwear industry on the territory of Jizzakh SIZ”, “Organization of production of leather garments in the city of Namangan”.
As a result of introducing new production capacities, modernization, technical and technological renovation of existing production facilities, expanding the range and improving the competitiveness of products, the highest growth in production is observed in such industries as light (116.6%), woodworking (115.6%), construction materials industry (114.1%), food (114.4%), pharmaceutical and medical (128.9%).
The volume of production of consumer goods increased by 9.7%, including foodstuffs – by 17.8%. Mastered the production of 75 new species and 164 new models of finished sewing and knitting products, 143 new types of confectionery products, dairy and meat products, 67 new types of drugs.
In the framework of the Program of localization of production of finished products, components and materials for 2015-2019, the output of 696 projects amounted to 4.0 trillion soums, the estimated effect of import substitution amounted to $1.56 billion. The production of over 820 new industrial products was mastered.
In order to further reduce the level of state involvement in the economy, 608 state properties were sold at public auctions, including 506 objects at “zero” redemption value under investment commitments. 245 distressed and inactive organizations were eliminated. 353 unused and unfinished by construction state owned objects were demolished under the privatization program. 120 hectares of land was released as a result of the above measures, about 80 of which has been allotted to entrepreneurs for organizing production and services.
The year 2015 saw the continuation of active work on providing the reliable protection to private property, small business and private entrepreneurship, the removal of barriers to their rapid development. Small businesses over the past year received loans in the amount of 12.1 trillion soums or 1.3 times more than 2014, including 2.5 trillion soums of microloans. In 2015, 26.9 thousands of new small businesses (the growth rate – 103.3% against 2014) were created. The greatest number of small businesses were established in industry and other branches (36%), trade and catering (30.4%) and construction (11.2%). As a result, the share of small business in GDP comprised 56.7%, industry – 38.9%, in retail turnover – 87.1%, in paid services –50.8% and in employment – 77.9%.
The implementation of program of measures on radical improvement of system of corporate management had allowed to improve the organizational structure of 623 companies with regard to modern standards of corporate management.
As a result of the implementation of the Program of services development for 2012-2016, more than 14 thousand new facilities were created in the past year. The volume of services rendered to the population increased by 14%, while the share of this sector in the GDP structure increased from 54.0% in 2014 to 54.5% by the end of 2015.
In the framework of the Program of development and modernization of engineering communications and road infrastructure for 2015-2019, work was undertaken in the past year on the development of 240 km of track sections, the construction and reconstruction of 382.4 km sections of roads. Electrification of 155.9 km of railway section of Marokand-Karshi and organization of high-speed traffic of passenger trains on the railway line Samarkand-Karshi were completed.
Under the implementation of the Program of development of telecommunication technologies, networks and communications infrastructure for 2013-2020, more than 1.8 thousand km of fiber-optic broadband networks have been constructed using modern technology. A systematic work is underway on the modernization and expansion of the Single portal of state interactive services, which now connects 990 of state and economic management bodies, state authorities, their structural and territorial divisions. In 2015, more than 400 thousand services were rendered via the Single portal.
As for the Program on the construction of individual housing on standard projects 12 thousand houses were put into operation in rural areas. The newly built arrays have been introduced with 367 km of gas supply networks, 289 km of electricity grids, 471 km of water supply networks and 213 km of roads, as well as 115 social and market infrastructure.
In the whole country, the year 2015 saw the commissioning of 11.7 million square meters of housing, including 8.6 million square meters in rural areas and 2.6 thousand km of water networks, including 2.1 thousand km in rural areas.Measures taken in 2015 resulted the production of 3361.3 thousand tons of raw cotton, 8176.6 thousand tons of grain crops, 10128.1 thousand tons of vegetables, 2696.7 tons of potatoes, 1853.1 tons of melons, 2746.2 tons of fruits and berries, 1579.0 thousand tons of grapes. The population of cattle reached more than 11.6 million heads, production of meat – 2033.5 thousand tons, milk – 9028.2 thousand tons, eggs – 5526 million.The Program of creating workplaces and ensuring employment of the population resulted the creation of more than 980 thousand jobs, of which more than 60% in rural areas. As a result of measures taken on further improvement of a comprehensive system of employment of graduates of professional colleges and higher educational institutions, as well as the organization of practical training of students, 480 thousand graduates of professional colleges and 61.2 thousand graduates of universities were provided with employment.
In order to further improve the quality of health services, measures were implemented to strengthen the outpatient care and integration of modern medical and diagnostic equipment. In particular, the amount of funds spent for the construction, reconstruction and capital repair of buildings of medical institutions and equipping them with necessary equipment totaled 500 billion soums.More than 2246 billion soums and over $225 million were channeled pursuant to the State program “Year of attention and care for the older generation”, in order to strengthen the social protection, material support and medical assistance to veterans of war and labor, as well as the elderly.
