In early December, the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis approved amendments to the law on the 2025 state budget that significantly increased government spending.
As Gazeta.uz stressed, information on the review and adoption of the amendments was not published on the lower house’s official platforms, and the relevant sessions were not broadcast.
The document was discussed on December 3 and 5, on the same days that the laws on the 2026 state budget and tax policy were reviewed and adopted.
The adoption of amendments to the 2025 state budget law was disclosed on December 18 during Senate session. Under established procedure, draft laws are first reviewed in three readings by the Legislative Chamber and are then sent to the upper house – the Senate.
The Ministry of Economy and Finance did not submit initiatives to increase budget spending for parliamentary debate during the year, nor did it provide deputies with justification materials explaining the need for additional expenditures. The bill amending the state budget was introduced to the Legislative Chamber at year-end.
A similar situation occurred at the end of 2024, when spending by state bodies and organizations exceeded the amounts set by law by UZS 10trn. At that time, the Legislative Chamber passed the government-requested amendments through all three readings in nine minutes, with no deputies voting against.
In 2023, the state budget law was amended 15 days before year-end. Lawmakers approved, within 20 minutes, an increase in the consolidated budget deficit ceiling from 3% to 5.5% of GDP and raised the annual external borrowing limit from $4.5bn to $5.5bn.
The 2022 state budget law also set a 3% deficit cap. However, as spending sharply exceeded revenues, the law was amended to raise the ceiling to 4%.
