DUSHANBE, December 25, 2015, Asia-Plus – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is expected to provide 60 million U.S. dollars to Tajikistan in budget support assistance.
A source at the ADB Tajikistan Resident Mission (TJRM) says the Bank is ready to provide the budget support assistance on conditions that Tajikistan will carry out reforms to improve investment and entrepreneurial climate in the country.
This support will allow the Tajik government reducing the budget deficit, the source said.
The sharp depreciation of the Russian ruble and the slowdown in Russia’s economy have led to decrease in remittance flows to Tajikistan and increase in the number of labor migrants returning home that in turn has caused significant budget deficit, the source stressed.
According to him, close work is currently being carried out with the government of Tajikistan and “the last condition is adoption of the law on inspection of economic entity.”
“As soon as this law is adopted, the probability that the budget support assistance will be provide will increase,” the source added.
We will recall that Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament passed the law on inspection of economic entities in new edition on November 4.
Speaking at the session, Sharif Rahimzoda, the head of the Namoyandagon Committee on Finance and Budget, said the number of unscheduled inspections would be limited to 10 percent.
According to him, the procedure of the limitation of the number of unscheduled inspections will be introduced in 2018, “because it is necessary to prepare the list of inspected entities before 2018.”
The law, in particular, provides for establishment of the coordinating council on inspection of economic entities, prohibition of inspection of new economic entities during the first two years of their activities, and inspection of industrial enterprises only once every five years.
As it had been reported earlier, the ADB approved $60 million in budget support assistance for the first phase of a program to expand economic opportunities, develop the private sector, and attract investments to Tajikistan on December 7.
The program includes reforms to help reduce costs of doing business, to strengthen protection for businesses, and to increase business innovation and productivity. Major reforms include a new regulatory impact analysis system for newly proposed legal acts; improving transparency through the disclosure of business ownership; reforming Tajikstandard’s functions; and developing a new electricity tariff policy to eliminate cross-customer price subsidies.
Tajikistan joined ADB in 1998. To date, ADB has approved total assistance of around $1.4 billion in concessional loans, grants, and technical assistance to the country. The ADB-Tajikistan partnership has promoted social development, upgraded and built new infrastructure, expanded agricultural production, developed the microfinance market, and encouraged regional cooperation and trade under the CAREC Program.
