EBRD lowered GDP growth forecast for Uzbekistan in 2016 to 0.7%

Almaty. May 12. Silkroadnews – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has lowered the forecast for Uzbekistan’s GDP growth in 2016 by 0.7%, from 7.2% to 6.5%, Uzbek telegraph agency (UzTAG) informs.

According to the EBRD report, in 2017 the Uzbek GDP growth forecast stays at 6.2% mainly due to the pressure of external factors and internal structural problems. In particular, it is related to fall in remittances from Russia to Uzbekistan and reduction of trade volume with major partners – Russia and China.

However, the outlook remains the highest among the Central Asian countries on a par with Turkmenistan (6.2% growth).

At the same time the inflation rate for Uzbekistan is expected to reach 9% both in 2016 and in 2017.
In their turn, the Uzbek government for 2016 projects 7.8% GDP growth compared to 8% in 2015.