IMF committed to support Uzbekistan, Christine Lagarde informs Prez Shavkat Mirziyoyev

This has been reported by the Press Service of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The Head of the state expressed satisfaction with the established level of cooperation with the IMF, which in recent years has acquired intensive and systemic nature.

Christine Lagarde noted that the International Monetary Fund is firmly committed to the continuation of all necessary support for Uzbekistan in the process of implementing complex economic and structural reforms.

The IMF’s willingness to actively expand the areas of technical assistance is of particular significance, including the elaboration of specific economic policy measures that would contribute to the consistent improvement in living standards in Uzbekistan.

Building on its own analysis, the Fund positively assesses the current state and prospects for development of Uzbekistan’s economy. In particular, the IMF experts predict growth in gross domestic product at 5.5 percent this year and 6 percent in 2020.

The Fund’s specialists note that Uzbekistan has successfully implemented the first phase of important reforms, including the liberalization of the foreign exchange market, transformation of tax administration and radical improvement of the public statistics management system.

Issues of current interaction with the IMF were discussed in detail, a high evaluation was given to its effectiveness. The basis for such an assessment became the Concept of Tax Policy and Administration worked out and implemented with technical assistance of the Fund, the jointly developed draft laws “On the Central Bank and Currency Regulation” in the new edition, the formation for the first time in the history of the country of a medium-term national budget, Uzbekistan’s accession to the IMF’s Special Data Dissemination Standard.

Uzbekistan’s President and the IMF Managing Director agreed to keep with intensive cooperation between the sides, primarily in improving the monetary policy, the banking system, fiscal policy, in bringing the quality of reporting and analyzing the country’s balance of payments in line with international standards.

Christine Lagarde thanked Shavkat Mirziyoyev for the informative discussion and expressed hope to continue the dialogue during her visit to Uzbekistan scheduled for June 2019.

“I would like to see with my own eyes the outcomes of extensive reforms You have been implementing for the benefit of Uzbekistan’s population,” the IMF Managing Director said.