The program was approved in order to eliminate the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the socio-economic development of the Republic of Uzbekistan, restore investment and foreign economic activity of business entities, and create conditions for further deepening economic reforms.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations, the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications, the Central Bank, departments and associations to restore and continue structural changes in the sectors are charged with:

Implement macroeconomic policies aimed at supporting the development of key sectors of the economy in 2020 and ensuring sustainable economic growth at the level of 5.0-5.5% from 2021, continue reforming market institutions;First of all, to continue further reforming the banking system in the post-crisis period, aimed at transforming banks and implementing measures to ensure the efficiency of the quality of banking services;

Stimulating domestic demand and reducing poverty by providing employment and increasing incomes, expanding program measures to provide financial support to start-up entrepreneurs;

Improving industrial and competition policy, including through stimulating domestic demand for national products, developing cooperative relations, as well as continuing reforms at enterprises of strategic industries;

Intensification of investment processes, primarily by expanding internal resources to stimulate the participation of local investors in the implementation of projects to finance infrastructure projects and the creation of value-added production “chains”;

Additional financial development of exporting enterprises through support, including expanding the use of modern means of trade finance, stimulating foreign economic activity and supporting exporting enterprises by encouraging trade organizations to expand the supply of local products to new export markets;

Expanding the participation of private entrepreneurship in the public procurement system, increasing the convenience of doing business and the competitive environment through the development of small industrial zones in the region and the allocation of additional financial resources for the transfer of transport infrastructure facilities, the development of private entrepreneurship;

The government approved:

• The plan of practical actions for the restoration of economic growth and the continuation of structural changes in the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020-2021 (hereinafter – the action plan);
• “Road map” (hereinafter – “road map”) for the implementation of measures to restore and continue structural reforms in the economy.

The development of a network of trade organizations providing comprehensive services to the population in the regions, the gradual sale of state assets of local mobile operators and the attraction of private investment in the development of telecommunication networks in rural areas, as well as high-speed Internet access for all social institutions in rural areas and settlements in 2021, support for service businesses and the development of digital technologies.

It is proposed to implement the Action Plan in two stages:

Stage 1 – stabilization and recovery growth – until the end of 2020. With full implementation of the already planned and proposed measures, the expected indicators for 2020 are estimated as follows:

GDP growth – 102.2% (initial forecast 105.5%); industry – 103.4% (106.5%); agriculture – 103.3% (104%); investme

nts – 101.2% (109.3%); services – 100.1% (105.8%); retail turnover, including catering – 103% (105.6%); export – 94.3% (115.6%).These calculations do not include the likelihood of re-introduction of quarantine in the republic and on a global scale.

Stage 2 – measures to continue systemic reforms that will ensure sustainable economic growth rates of 5.0-5.5% from 2021 with adjustments for the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic during 2020-2021.

At the same time, taking into account the duration of the external impact and the severity of the consequences of the pandemic on certain industries and sectors of the economy (tourism, transport, export), their exit to pre-crisis trends may go beyond 2021.