BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 21. Asian Development Bank (ADB) updated its forecast for Uzbekistan’s GDP growth for 2023 from 4.5 to 5 percent, Trend reports via the bank.
According to the bank, for 2022 growth rate is expected at the level of 4 percent.
The Uzbek government reported growth slowing from 7.2 percent in the first half of 2021 to 5.4 percent in the same period of 2022. Growth was nonetheless higher than expected as expansion in construction and investment remained strong despite uncertainty about investment inflows from the Russian Federation.
Expansion in industry moderated from 9.2 percent to 5.1 percent, with smaller gains in manufacturing and a decline in mining and quarrying. Growth in services decreased from 9.7 percent to 7.3 percent, with slower expansion in trade, transport, and storage.
Growth in construction soared from 0.3 percent to 6.2 percent on gains in housing, infrastructure, and repairs. Expansion in agriculture edged up from 2.1 percent to 2.7 percent as both crop and livestock production increased.
According to the bank, growth projections are raised for Azerbaijan in 2022, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in 2023 because of large money transfers from the Russian Federation to several countries and, for petroleum exporters, larger-than-expected hydrocarbon exports.