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Currency convertibility, repatriation may bring additional funds to Uzbekistan - expert

Business Materials 21 November 2018 16:39 (UTC +04:00)
As long as the opening of full convertibility and repatriation of currency is delayed, Uzbekistan will suffer from a lack of capital
Currency convertibility, repatriation may bring additional funds to Uzbekistan - expert

Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 21

By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:

As long as the opening of full convertibility and repatriation of currency is delayed, Uzbekistan will suffer from a lack of capital, Uzbek media reported referring to the Asia Frontier Capital analyst Scott Osheroff.

"When a foreign investor considers the possibility of investing in a country, he considers many criteria. One of the first questions that an investor asks is: “Can I repatriate my investments, capital gains and dividends? If the answer is no, then the foreign investor is more likely to invest in other places. Why should an investor invest his capital in a “financial prison”, even if such an opportunity is attractive when there are many other attractive opportunities in many countries of the world where capital control, like in Uzbekistan, does not exist?," Osheroff said.

“During numerous discussions with experts in the government and the private sector in Uzbekistan, when we ask whether there is capital control in Uzbekistan, we often get the answer that there are no restrictions, which is reflected in the Law on Investment Activities and the Law on Investment currency control. But in fact, today it is impossible to convert your income from the sale of shares listed on the stock exchange,” Osheroff said.

According to him, this is the biggest risk for the future development of Uzbekistan, because without additional investments, it will probably be difficult for Uzbekistan to achieve its goals of sustainable growth and welfare of 33 million citizens.

The expert expressed the hope that the government will consider and take all necessary measures to solve the existing problems of capital control.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @FDolukhanov

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