“Subsidy for electricity and gas is being increased in return for not increasing tariffs” - Ishmetov comments on an increase in budget expenses

The bill on amendments to the law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2022” was considered in the first reading at the next session of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis.

The consolidated budget deficit of the republic is increasing from 3% to 4% due to the additional expenses. In order to cover the additional expenses, the net amount of government securities issued on behalf of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Article 10 of the law is changed from 6 trillion soums to 10 trillion soums.

The Minister of Finance Timur Ishmetov said that the limited amount of funds allocated from the republican budget to the distributors of the first-level budget funds for the fulfillment of the priority tasks of the President and the government is being increased at the expense of 20 trillion 915 billion soums of additional expenses.

“Due to the fact that the economy will grow less than planned due to external risks, subsidies for electricity and gas are being increased due to the fact that tariffs have not increased,” the minister said.

According to him, it is necessary to allocate funds to the social sector due to inflation being higher than planned.

“The main problem of external risks is uncertainty, it is difficult to determine how long the current situation will last. We are increasing the budget deficit from 3% to 4% by the end of the year, and we should try to maintain it at this level. There is no funding for a deficit beyond that. Limits on attracting funds from external debt are set, we will not increase external debt. Revenues are exceeding the plan: there are less revenues in some directions, but more revenues are achieved in other directions,” the minister said.

It should be recalled that the Minister of Finance Timur Ishmetov said at the economic forum held in early November that the economy of Uzbekistan is in a difficult stage and it is necessary to reduce all expenses.

Earlier, the minister said that off-budgetary funds are the most painful issue and emphasized that receipts and expenses for the fund should be made through the budget.