Economy of Uzbekistan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Economy of Uzbekistan
Currency	1 som (UZS) = 100 tiyin
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	CIS
Statistics
GDP ranking	77th (2004 est.) [1]
GDP	$47.59 billion (2004 est.)
GDP growth	4.4% (2004 est.)
GDP per capita	$1,800 (2004 est.)
GDP by sector	agriculture (38%), industry (26.3%), services (35.7%) (2003 est.)
Inflation	3% (2004 est.)
Pop below poverty line	28% (2004 est.)
Labour force	14.64 million (2004 est.)
Labour force by occupation	agriculture (44%), industry (20%), services (36%) (1995)
Unemployment	0.6% officially, plus another 20% underemployed (2004 est.)
Main industries	textiles, food processing, machine building, metallurgy, natural gas, chemicals
Trading partners
Exports	$3.7 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Main partners	Russia 21.8%, China 9.5%, Tajikistan 6.3%, South Korea 5.8%, Turkey 5.3%, Kazakhstan 5.2%, Japan 4.4%, U.S. 4.2% (2003)
Imports	$2.82 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)
Main partners	Russia 22.3%, U.S. 11.5%, South Korea 10.2%, Germany 9.6%, China 6.6%, Kazakhstan 5.5%, Turkey 5.4% (2003)
Public finances
Public debt	$19.75 billion (41.5% of GDP) (2004 est.)
Revenues	$2.457 billion (2004 est.)
Expenses	$2.482 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid	$87.4 million from the U.S. (2003)
edit

The Government of Uzbekistan is moving cautiously towards a market-based economy for the Economy of Uzbekistan. Since independence, the government has stated that it is committed to a gradual transition to a free market economy. Although the government has significantly narrowed the gap between the black market and official exchange rate, its restrictive trade regime has crippled the economy. In addition to the urgent need to rescind its draconian trade measures, the government needs to achieve full current account conversion capacity. Substantial structural reform also is needed, particularly in the area of improving the investment climate for foreign investors and in freeing the agricultural sector from smothering state control. Until now, continuing restrictions on currency conversion capacity and other government measures to control economic activity, including the implementation of severe import restrictions and closure of Uzbekistan's borders with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, have constrained economic growth and led international lending organizations to suspend or scale back credits. The recent closure of the borders with neighboring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan has almost paralyzed Uzbekistan's consumer market.

The government has made some progress in reducing inflation and the budget deficit, but government statistics understate both, while overstating economic growth. There are no reliable statistics on unemployment, which is believed to be high and growing. The economy is based primarily on agriculture and agricultural processing; Uzbekistan is a major producer and exporter of cotton. It also is a major producer of gold with the largest open-pit gold mine in the world and has substantial deposits of copper, strategic minerals, gas, and oil.

Contents 1 GDP and Employment 2 Labor 3 Prices and monetary policy 4 Agriculture and natural resources 5 Trade and investment 6 Miscellaneous data 7 See also 8 External link

[edit] GDP and Employment

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Uzbekistan at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of som.

Year	Gross Domestic Product	US Dollar Exchange	Inflation Index (2000=100)
1995	302,787	29.77 som	15
2000	3,251,683	237.33 som	100
2005	15,253,007	1,305.34 som	321

For purchasing power parity comparisons, the U.S. dollar is exchanged at 316.19 som only.

The government claims that the GDP rose 4.2% in 2002; however, it is believed that it was no greater than 2%. Unemployment and underemployment are very high, but reliable figures are difficult to obtain, as no recent credible surveying has been done. Underemployment in the agricultural sector is particularly high, which is important given the fact that 60% of the population is rural-based. Many observers believe that employment growth and real wage growth has been stagnant, given virtually no growth in output.

[edit] Labor

Literacy in Uzbekistan is almost universal, and workers are generally well-educated and trained. Most local technical and managerial training does not meet international business standards, but foreign companies engaged in production report that locally hired workers learn quickly and work effectively. Foreign firms generally find that younger workers, untainted by the Soviet system, work well at all levels. The government emphasizes foreign education and each year sends about 50 students to the United States, Europe, and Japan for university degrees, after which they have a commitment to work for the government for 5 years. Reportedly, about 60% of the students who study abroad find employment with foreign companies on their return, despite their 5-year commitment to work in the government. Some American companies offer special training programs in the United States to their local employees.

In addition, Uzbekistan subsidizes studies for students at Westminster International University in Tashkent--the only Western-style institution in Uzbekistan. In 2002, the government "Hope" Program is paying for 98 out of 155 students studying at Westminister. For the next academic year, Westminster is expecting to admit 360 students, from which Umid is expecting to pay for 160 students. The education at Westminster costs $4,800 per academic year.

With the closure or downsizing of many foreign firms, it is relatively easy to find qualified, well-trained employees, and salaries are very low by Western standards. Salary caps, which the government implements in an apparent attempt to prevent firms from circumventing restrictions on withdrawal of cash from banks, prevent many foreign firms from paying their workers as much as they would like. Labor market regulations in Uzbekistan are similar to those of the Soviet Union, with all rights guaranteed but some rights unobserved. Unemployment is a growing problem, and the number of people looking for jobs in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Southeast Asia is increasing each year. According to official Ministry of Labor estimates, around 100,000 citizens of Uzbekistan work abroad.

[edit] Prices and monetary policy

Inflation was approximately 50% in 2002. From 1996 until the spring of 2003, the official and so-called "commercial" exchange rate were highly overvalued. Many businesses and individuals were unable to buy dollars legally at these rates, so a widespread black market developed to meet hard currency demand. However, by mid-2003, the gap between the black market, official, and commercial rates had been reduced to approximately 8%. Currency convertibility is already reached by the government. Liberalization of the trade regime, however, is a prerequisite for Uzbekistan to proceed to an IMF-financed program.

Outstanding external debt reached $4.7 billion at the end of 2002. Tax collection rates remained high, due to the use of the banking system by the government as a collection agency. Technical assistance from the World Bank, Office of Technical Assistance at the Treasury Department, and from the UNDP is being provided in reforming the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance into institutions, which conduct market-oriented fiscal and monetary policy.

[edit] Agriculture and natural resources

Agriculture and the agroindustrial sector contribute more than 40% to Uzbekistan's GDP. Cotton is Uzbekistan's dominant crop, accounting for roughly 45% of the country's exports. Gold is second at 22%. Uzbekistan also produces significant amounts of silk, fruit, and vegetables. Virtually all agriculture involves heavy irrigation. Farmers and agricultural workers have very low incomes because the government uses the difference between the world prices of cotton and wheat and what it pays the farmers to subsidize highly inefficient capital intensive industrial concerns, such as factories producing automobiles, airplanes, and tractors. It is also the largest jute market in West Asia.

Consequently, agricultural productivity is low, with many farmers focusing on producing fruits and vegetables--for which supply and demand determine the price--on small plots of land, as well as smuggling cotton and wheat across the border with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in order to obtain higher prices.

Minerals and mining also are important to Uzbekistan's economy. Gold is Uzbekistan's second most important foreign exchange earner at 22%. Uzbekistan is the world's seventh-largest producer, at about 80 tons p.a., and holds the fourth-largest reserves. Uzbekistan has an abundance of natural gas, used both for domestic consumption and export; oil almost sufficient for domestic needs; and significant reserves of copper, lead, zinc, tungsten, and uranium. Inefficiency in energy use is extremely high, given the failure to use realistic price signals to cause users to conserve energy.

[edit] Trade and investment

Uzbekistan has adopted a policy of import substitution. The multiple exchange rate system and the highly over-regulated trade regime has led to both import and export declines since 1996, although imports have declined more than exports, as the government squeezed imports to maintain hard currency reserves. Draconian tariffs and border closures imposed in the summer and fall of 2002 led to massive decreases in imports of both consumer products and capital equipment. Uzbekistan's traditional "trade" partners are NIS states, notably Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and the other Central Asian countries. Non-NIS partners have been increasing in importance in recent years, with the U.S., Korea, Germany, Japan, and Turkey being the most active.

Uzbekistan is a member of the IMF, World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. It has observer status at the World Trade Organization, is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization, and has publicly stated its intention to accede to the World Trade Organization. It is a signatory to the Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States, the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, the Madrid Agreement on Trademarks Protection, and the Patent Cooperation Treaty. In 2002, Uzbekistan was again placed on the special "301" Watch List for lack of intellectual copyright protection.

Uzbekistan's lack of currency convertibility has caused foreign investment inflows to dwindle to a trickle. In fact, Uzbekistan has the lowest level of FDI per capita in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Since Uzbekistan's independence, U.S. firms have invested roughly $500 million in Uzbekistan. Large U.S. investors include Newmont Mining Corporation, reprocessing tailings from the Muruntau gold mine; Case Corporation (now Case IH), manufacturing and servicing cotton harvesters and tractors; Coca Cola, with bottling plants in Tashkent, Namangan, and Samarkand; Texaco, producing lubricants for sale in the Uzbek market; and Baker Hughes, in oil and gas development. No large new investments have taken place from the United States in the last five years.

[edit] Miscellaneous data

Household income or consumption by percentage share:

• lowest 10%: 3.6%
• highest 10%: 22% (2000)

Distribution of family income - Gini index: 44.7 (1998)

Agriculture - products: cotton, vegetables, fruits, grain; livestock

Industrial production growth rate: 6.2% (2003 est.)

Electricity:

• production: 47.7 TWh (2002)
• consumption: 46.66 TWh (2002)
• exports: 4.5 TWh (2002)
• imports: 6.8 TWh (2002)

Electricity - production by source:

• fossil fuel: 88.2%
• hydro: 11.8%
• other: 0% (2001)
• nuclear: 0%

Oil:

• production: 143,300 barrel/day (2004 est.)
• consumption: 142,000 barrel/day (2001 est.)
• exports: NA
• imports: NA
• proved reserves: 297 million barrel (1 January 2002)

Natural gas:

• production: 63.1 billion m³ (2001 est.)
• consumption: 45.2 billion m³ (2001 est.)
• exports: 17.9 billion m³ (2001 est.)
• imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
• proved reserves: 937.3 billion m³ (1 January 2002)

Current account balance: $461.9 million (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities: cotton 41.5%, gold 9.6%, energy products 9.6%, mineral fertilizers, ferrous metals, textiles, food products, automobiles (1998 est.)

Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment 49.8%, foodstuffs 16.4%, chemicals, metals (1998 est.)

Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: $1.603 billion (2004 est.)

Debt - external: $4.351 billion (2004 est.)

Exchange rates: Uzbekistani som per US dollar - 1,021.67 (2004), 115.9 (2003), NA (2001), 236.608 (2001), 236.608 (2000)

[edit] See also

• Uzbekistan
• Uzbekistani Som
• Economy of Asia

[edit] External link

• Uzbekistan's trade surplus widens 33% in 9 mths