DUSHANBE, September 18, 2009, Asia-Plus — Tajikistan has received 460 million U.S. dollars less over the first eight months of this year because the plunge in the prices of Tajikistan’s major commodities – aluminum and cotton, Minister of Economic Development and Trade Ghulomjon Bobozoda announced at a meeting of the Coordination Council of Donors and the Government of Tajikistan in Dushanbe on September 17.
Over the report period, the prices of aluminum and cotton fiber have fallen 46 and 19 percent respectively, said the minister, noting that the fall in the international prices of cotton and aluminum and in demand for them has hurt the country’s economy. The plunge in the international prices of the major commodities of Tajikistan has resulted in the country’s industrial production decreasing by 11 percent, according to Bobozoda.
“Tajikistan’s exports and imports have fallen 43 and 25 percent respectively and the country’s external trade turnover has decreased by 30 percent compared to January-August 2008,” said the minister, “The national currency, the somoni, has fallen 17 percent against the dollar since the beginning of this year.”
He added that another negative factor of the global financial crisis was the fall in demand for labor migrants outside the country that resulted in labor migrants’ remittances to Tajikistan having decreased by 35 percent over the first seven months of 2009. This factor has affected purchasing capacity of the population because labor migrants are a critical component in Tajikistan’s economy and remittances keep many families in the country above the poverty line. This situation has also caused increase in gap in the balance of payments, Bobozoda stressed.
The minister also informed donors that damage caused by natural disasters that hit the country in the past spring amounted to some 100 million U.S. dollars.
