Uzbekistan aims to achieve the status of an upper-middle-income country by 2030. Current reforms in the country largely target the development of small businesses and private entrepreneurship (small and medium-sized enterprises [SME]) as SMEs have the greatest potential for becoming a real basis for forming a middle class.

In this Pocket Economics podcast, Mattia Romani, EBRD’s Managing Director for Economics, Policy and Governance, and Bojan Markovic, Deputy Director for Economics and Policy, discuss economic resilience, the ability of markets and institutions to resist global shocks, mentioning that “…one key element that needs to be in place is a resilient banking sector”.
The podcast can be accessed in English here.

Illustration: from the EBRD website

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a report “Republic Uzbekistan: Fiscal Transparency Evaluation”. The evaluation highlights several gaps in Uzbekistan’s fiscal transparency practices and presents recommendations to improve it.
The full report can be downloaded in English via the following link.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development released a paper that assesses the progress in Kazakhstan towards a well-functioning, sustainable market economy, and the challenges ahead. It singles out five key constraints that are holding back private sector growth in Kazakhstan.

In 2016, Tajikistan launched the National Development Strategy of the Republic of Tajikistan for the Period Up To 2030 (NDS 2030) laying out its master plan of the country’s future economic development. This systematic country diagnostic identifies the most critical challenges and opportunities facing Tajikistan as its strives to raise the population’s living standards through the implementation of NDS 2030.

EBRD published a new episode of Pocket Dilemmas podcast on the future of money and the technology behind cryptocurrency.

The podcast can be accessed in English here.

Image: EBRD. Pocket Dilemmas

The Asian Development Bank released a publication that analyzes the determinants of the evolution of bank-specific nonperforming loans in Asia, the potential feedback effects of nonperforming loans on the real economy, and the implications for financial stability in the region.

The report says "Growth in Central Asia is also forecast to slow, from 4.8 per cent in 2018 to 4.4 per cent in 2019 and 4.2 per cent in 2020 due to slower growth in mining output."

The report is available in English and can be downloaded via the following link: https://www.ebrd.com/news/2019/economic-growth-seen-slowing-in-ebrd-regions-in-2019.html 

Image: EBRD

This publication surveys the experiences of seven countries — Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — to assess factors affecting the ability of low-income households and small firms to access financial services, including financial literacy, financial education programs, and financial regulatory frameworks.

In this edition of "Pocket Economics" podcasts participants discuss the gender equality issues in stimulating economic growth.

Podcast is prepared by the EBRD in English language and avialable via the following link.

Image: EBRD

The International Monetary Fund has released a report with the regional economic outlook for Central Asia and Caucasus.

The report is available for download in English, Russian and Kazakh languages via the following link.

Image: IMF

EBRD published several reports for the year 2018. The reports are available in English under the following links:

Sustainability Report 2018: https://www.ebrd.com/news/publications/sustainability-report/sustainability-report-2018.html

Financial Report 2018: https://www.ebrd.com/news/publications/financial-report/financial-report-2018.html

Annual Review 2018: https://www.ebrd.com/news/publications/annual-report/annual-review-2018.html

Image: EBRD