DUSHANBE, October 2, 2013, Asia-Plus — The aggregate GDP of the CIS countries in second quarter of 2013 grew by 1.4%, which is significantly lower than in the past year (4.0%) and the preceding quarter (1.7%), the new issue of
The CIS Macromonitor
released by Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Research Department on October 1 said.
The EDB researchers note that the slowdown in industrial production has reached its bottom. The reduction in this quarter was the same as in the previous one (-0.2%). The retailing and services sectors have been for the first time affected by recession in other sectors and this suggests that the consumer activity has also weakened. The investment activities have also slowed down, affecting the construction and financial sectors.
The report notes that Tajikistan’s economic growth in Q2 improved to 7.7% compared to 7.3% in Q1. The metallurgical sector has shown the signs of improvement, while the recession in the textiles industry has aggravated. The construction sector has demonstrated a significant growth of 50%. The public budget in the reporting quarter had a surplus of 0.4% of GDP.
“The overheated banking sector of Tajikistan is a concern,” states the report. “Given the foreign trade deficit standing at 47% of GDP, which is almost completely covered by money transfers, and the low level of currency reserves, a rapid increase in currency loans is associated with the risk that the economic situation will worsen.”
