President says stable macroeconomic situation remains in Turkmenistan
By Amina Nazarli
Turkmenistan maintains a stable macroeconomic situation, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov said at a meeting with heads of institutions of the financial, economic and banking sectors, the state agency Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlari reported.
The head of state noted that according to the forecasts of the International Monetary Fund, global economy is expected to grow by only 3.5 percent in 2017. Instability will remain on the world financial markets, and the growth rate in economically developed countries will somewhat weaken.
Complicated external geopolitical conditions, including a sustained drop in oil and gas prices, will have an impact on the situation on international asset and investment markets, Berdymuhamedov noted, stating a decrease in economic activity in the trading partners of Turkmenistan.
"However, despite all the above factors, Turkmenistan maintains a stable macroeconomic situation and sustained high growth dynamics at an economically sufficient level. For example, in the first four months of this year this figure was 106.3 percent," the president said.
He noted that the developed industrial strategy for the production of import-substituting products and the increase in the volumes of export supplies, the course taken to revitalize non-hydrocarbon-related industries, was carried out along with the policy of broad lending and reduction of inexpedient expenses.
The steps taken in this direction have made it possible to maintain the competitiveness of most branches of the national economy, diversify foreign trade operations, and maintain export operations at the level of the previous year.
Meanwhile, the Turkmen president instructed to ensure timely solution of tasks on privatization of enterprises and objects of state property and their transformation into joint-stock companies, comprehensive support of small and medium-sized businesses, according to the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper.
The head of state said that "in spite of the fact that today all measures are envisaged for the eradication of the bureaucracy from the economy, its pressure prevails."
Among the main directions of the forthcoming work, he named the acceleration of the economy's transition to market relations in accordance with the Constitution of the country.
Berdymuhamedov expressed necessity to create an economic environment based on innovations and new technologies and significantly accelerate the industrialization of the country.
The President also stressed the need for tax reforms and instructed to keep the level of inflation in certain parameters and a stable rate of manat.
Turkmenistan occupies one of the key positions in the region in the supply of natural gas, whose importers are China and Iran. At the same time, Russia, a traditional buyer, stopped buying Turkmen gas in 2016.
The share of Turkmenistan's non-state sector of the economy in the production of gross domestic product (GDP) is 62.3 percent, according to the data for 2016.
--
Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz