In a report released at a news conference in Dushanbe, the head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT), Hokim Kholiqzoda, noted on July 22 that he does not have information about the scale of the hidden economy in the country.
“No country will be able to determine the scale of shadow economy,” the NBT head said.
At the same time, he noted, “Perhaps the Agency for Statistics has such data.”
Earlier, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicated in its report that in Tajikistan, informal economy accounted for more than 30 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Maybe the volume of the shadow economy is equal to 30% of the country’s GDP, but since we are talking about a hidden economy, it is very difficult to determine this,” the Tajik central bank head noted.
Meanwhile, Tajikistan’s lower chamber (Majlisi Namoyandagon) of parliament (Majlisi Oli) on June 30 endorsed a draft law on amnesty allowing individuals to legalize their assets and money that had not been previously declared and illegal incomes.
The law is supposed to create favorable conditions for attraction citizens’ investments in the country’s economy.
The legalization of assets and money automatically exempts holders of such assets from administrative and criminal liability.
This law applies only to offences relating to misappropriating or embezzling the legalized assets and money.
The Majlisi Namoyandagon notes that such an amnesty is only a one-time initiative. This law reportedly provides for the simultaneous legalization of both assets and money
Tajikistan has some experience in carrying out such amnesties, which were announced in the country three times. But the simultaneous legalization of both assets and money will be carried out in Tajikistan for the first time.
