TASHKENT

Uzbekistan has posted 6.9 percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth and developed $10.2 billion investments in January-September of this year, including $6.3 billion in foreign direct investments and $1.5 billion as funds from international financial institutions and foreign governments.

The Central Asian country increased its forecast on foreign direct investment by 121 percent, while the projection for funds from international financial institutions was exceeded by 100 percent.

Industrial production increased by 9 percent, services – 7.6 percent, construction – 4.5 percent, agriculture – 4.2 percent. More than 24,000 new jobs have been created as a result of commissioning 160 new large production facilities worth $2.9 billion. In the private sector, 76,500 new business entities, as well as more than 332,000 new jobs were created in the first nine months of the year.

The figures were revealed during a government meeting where officials said that the economic growth was ensured by the government measures to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The government was tasked to ensure the creation of around 140,000 new jobs by completing the implementation of more than 4,000 projects with a total cost of $7.7 billion, including 158 large production projects worth $3.4 billion and 3,926 regional projects worth $4.3 billion in the fourth quarter of this year.

Uzbekistan plans to ensure 7.0 percent GDP growth this year and the government has tasked itself to increase the volume of production in all sectors of the economy.

Annual inflation is projected to be under 9.95 percent, while the budget deficit is forecast to be within 5.5 percent of the GDP.

The country’s energy sector is tasked to produce 14 billion cubic meters of natural gas and 21.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity supplies to consumers and to commission eight power plants with a total capacity of 1.3 gigawatts in the fourth quarter of this year.

Export of goods and services to the amount of $4.2 billion in industries such as production of textile, leather and footwear, electrical engineering, construction materials, silkworm breeding and the food industry is projected for October – December of this year.

The World Bank projects Uzbekistan’s GDP growth at 6.2 percent in 2021. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country’s GDP is projected to grow 6.1 percent in 2021 and 5.4 percent in 2022. Annual inflation is projected at 10.6 percent this year and 10.2 percent in 2022.