DUSHANBE, October 1, 2009, Asia-Plus — The draft national budget for 2010 endorsed by the government on September 29 will not be pruned significantly, Firouz Saidov, a lead specialist at the Center for Strategic Studies, said in an interview with Asia-Plus.
According to him, the main reason for pruning last year’s budget by almost 630 million somoni was the global financial crisis that has led to the plunge in the price of Tajikistan”s major commodities — aluminum and cotton. Moreover, the crisis has resulted in labor migrants’ remittances considerably decreasing.
“At present, the international prices of aluminum and cotton are gradually increasing and volumes of labor migrants’ remittances are increasing as well,” said Saidov, “Besides, international financial institutions are coming out of the crisis and increasing investments in national economies. Therefore, I think the budget for 2010 will not be pruned significantly.”
He added that the 2010 budget should earmark enough funds for financing construction of such strategic facilities as the Roghun hydroelectric power station. “If we do not allocate enough funds for completion of construction of the Roghun station, more serious crisis will hit all sectors of Tajikistan’s economy and the population in five-six year, when severe energy shortages may lead to economic collapse,” a senior expert from Tajik think tank stressed.
