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EBRD forecasts economy growth for Central Asia

Business Materials 12 November 2013 15:09 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 12

By Elena Kosolapova- Trend: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasts a relatively strong performance for the economies of Central Asian countries.

'Economies of Central Asia will continue growing relatively strongly despite slowing growth in their major trading partner Russia', reads the Regional Economic Prospects report published by the EBRD on November 11.

The EBRD forecasts that in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan much of the effect of new natural resource deposits will be reflected in output growth in the first two to three quarters of 2014, whilst in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, growth is expected to decelerate somewhat in the light of weaker demand and remittances flows from Russia.

According to the EBRD forecast, Kazakhstan will grow by 5.6 per cent in 2013 and 5.5 per cent in 2014.

"The forecast for this year is a marked change upwards from the previous figure published in May, up by 0.7 percentage points on the back of resilient investment and an expansion of oil output. However, the banking sector in the country remains weak burdened by non-performing loans," the bank said.

In Kyrgyzstan, growth is expected to reach 6.5 per cent in 2013. Tajikistan's growth will slow slightly, to 7.1 per cent this year due to slowing remittances from Russia.

In Turkmenistan, the economy will grow around 10 per cent this year as a new gas field comes on stream. Uzbekistan will see growth of around 7.7 per cent this year.

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