DUSHANBE, April 14, 2009, Asia-Plus — The Ministry of Finance (MoF) proposes to reduce the expenditure part of the national budget for 2009 by 500 million somoni (equivalent to 130.5 million US dollars) due to the global financial crisis.
The expenditure part of the national budget for 2009 stood at 4.766 billion somoni and the MoF-developed program of measures to address the financial crisis suggests that the expenditure part should be reduced to 4.266 billion somoni.
Reduction should apply to the expense items such as purchase of commodity and services, repair and technical service, communications services, centralized capital investment, stockpiling program, domestic capital transfers, etc.
In the meantime, expenses on communal financing (electricity and natural gas), transfers for population, rural areas financing program (including microlending), creation of new centers for supporting returning migrants (registration and consultations) and some others will increase by 60 million somoni.
Besides, the program also proposes to increase expanses on paying wages to employees of the federally funded organizations (some 450,000 people, including 12,400 public servants), allocations to employers, internal and external interest payments, and transfers from the central budget to the provinces by 98 million somoni.
The program also proposes to reduce the budget’s revenue part by 93 million somoni. The revenue part of the budget for 2009 stood at 4.663 billion and the program suggests that it should be reduced 3.733 billion somoni.
The 2009 budget deficit was supposed to amount to 103 million somoni, while at present, it amounts to 533 million somoni, the program said.
We will recall that speaking at the parliamentary session in March, Finance Minister Safarali Najmiddinov wanted the state budget that was allocated for 2009 to be revised due to the global economic crisis. Najmiddinov said that since the beginning of 2009 the Tajik economy has suffered due to an abrupt downturn in the export of Tajikistan”s two major commodities — cotton and aluminum. Also, he pointed out that the Tajik national currency — the somoni — has devalued some 14 percent against the dollar, adding to the problem.
