DUSHANBE, February 1, Asia-Plus – Prognosis of Tajikistan’s economic growth for 2007 is quite realistic, Carlos Pinerua, the head of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) mission to Tajikistan, remarked at a news conference in Dushanbe on January 31.
According to him, the gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the country this year is projected at 7%-7.5 percent. “This figure is quite attainable because a number of large investment projects are being implemented in the country,” said the IMF mission head, “The economic growth will be provided also due to remittances of Tajik labor migrants working outside the country, as well as trade and rendering paid services.”
At the same time, Pinerua noted that shortage of electricity may become one of impediments to development of economic growth in Tajikistan this year. “However, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade assured that there are no factors in 2007 that could contribute to decline in generation of electrical power as it was last year,” Pinerua noted.
He also noted inflation is expected to be 7%-9% this year, which is much lower than last year, when inflation in consumer sector was 12.5 percent. Pinerua pointed to the necessity of taking into consideration also increase in the price of natural gas imported from Uzbekistan.
