BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 18. Uzbekistan's economy is expected to slow down, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) says, Trend reports.
The bank's forecast suggests that this slowdown will be visible, particularly in the services and agriculture sectors. Rising prices of goods and services are the main reason behind it, potentially putting a cap on domestic spending.
In 2024, the country's GDP growth is predicted to decrease to 5.5 percent. However, there's a small improvement expected in 2025, with GDP growth rising slightly to 5.6 percent. This uptick is mainly because of growth in the industry sector, the ADB explained.
Looking at different sectors, the service industry's growth is expected to slow down to 5.5 percent in both 2024 and 2025. This is because there might be less demand for things like food services and accommodation.
Similarly, agriculture growth is projected to slow to 3.5 percent in both years. The main reason for this is the expected shortage of water for growing crops like cotton and wheat.
Construction is also expected to see slower growth, around 6 percent in both 2024 and 2025. According to the ADB, this is because there might be less building of houses and infrastructure projects happening.
However, the industry growth is expected to stay strong at 6 percent in 2024 and increase to 6.3 percent in 2025, fueled by growing international interest in food and textiles and a rising demand domestically for mining and quarrying.