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Middle East and Central Asia > Kyrgyz Republic

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Cover Regional Economic Outlook, Middle East and Central Asia, October 2024
Regional Economic Outlook, Middle East and Central Asia, October 2024
Navigating the Evolving Geoeconomic Landscape
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.

Abstract

Economic growth in the Middle East and North Africa and Caucasus and Central Asia regions is projected to strengthen in the near term, but only to the extent that current challenges abate. Ongoing conflicts and oil production cuts are dampening economic performance, and medium-term growth prospects have weakened over the past two decades. Moreover, high uncertainty looms, with key risks including escalating conflicts, increased geoeconomic fragmentation, and commodity price volatility. To boost growth and create jobs—especially for women and youth—reform priorities include strengthening governance, encouraging private sector investment, and advancing financial development.

Keywords:
Middle East; North Africa; Caucasus; Central Asia; Gaza; Sudan; Lebanon; trade patterns; economic growth; reforms; growth prospects; shocks; conflicts; uncertainty; economic performance; growth prospects; risks; oil production cuts; OPEC+; investment; geoeconomic fragmentation; IMF; governance; medium-term; capital deepening; women; youth; employment; commodity price volatility; private sector; financial development; CCA region; CCA economy; CCA country; IMF staff calculation; oil exporter; Total factor productivity; Financial sector development; Oil exports; Inflation; Labor force participation; East Africa; Central Asia and the Caucasus; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Committing to Grow: The Full Impact of WTO Accessions
André Brotto
,
Adam Jakubik
,
Roberta Piermartini
, and
Fulvio Silvy
This paper studies the impact of the process of accession to the WTO on growth rates in a sample of 150 economies. Unlike GATT-era accessions, WTO accessions involve reforms that extend beyond conventional trade liberalization measures. Using information on the pace of negotiations and requests in the working party's meetings, we construct an index that tracks the progress of reforms in the pre-accession period. We estimate that economies that implemented reforms and made deeper commitments during their WTO accession negotiations grew on average 1.5 percentage points faster than they otherwise would have. These results are robust to instrumental variable estimation and falsification tests.
Keywords:
WTO accession; structural reforms; trade and growth; commitment index; GATT-era accession; accession mode; accession effect; accession period; General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade; Estimation techniques; Tariffs; Trade barriers; Trade policy; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Managing Foreign Exchange Rate Risk: Capacity Development for Public Debt Managers in Emerging Market and Low-Income Countries
Thordur Jonasson
,
Sheheryar Malik
,
Kay Chung
, and
Michael G. Papaioannou
This paper presents some sound practices for foreign-currency risk management in developing countries and outlines instruments for managing sovereign debt portfolio currency exposures. Adoption of a debt management strategy with well-defined targets for foreign exchange risk is a critical element of public debt risk management. To this end, public debt managers often need to face with complex strategic and operational matters related to public debt hedging practices, including the use of derivatives. In this context, we highlight the main institutional challenges in the management of foreign exchange risk in sovereign debt portfolios and discuss the overall implementation of a foreign exchange risk-management strategy.
Keywords:
exchange rate risk risk management; debt portfolio; public debt manager; currency exposure; risk-management strategy; Government debt management; Debt management; Currencies; Exchange rate risk; Foreign currency debt; Asia and Pacific; Sub-Saharan Africa; Middle East; North Africa; Central Asia; Africa
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Kyrgyz Republic: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Kyrgyz Republic
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
The 2023 Article IV Consultation highlights that the Kyrgyz economy grew strongly in 2023, led by construction and trade, despite the challenging regional environment. Tax revenue mobilization improved, and public debt declined. Headline inflation fell from 14.7 percent in December 2022 to 7.3 percent in December 2023, supported by a marked reduction in food and fuel inflation, but demand pressures have kept core inflation elevated. The official current account deficit has remained significant due to the decline in net remittance inflows, lower gold exports, and unrecorded re-exports. Output is expected to grow at its potential rate of 4 percent in the medium term, inflation decline to mid-single digits, and public debt remain contained. Current favorable macroeconomic conditions present a window of opportunity to strengthen the policy framework and raise growth prospects through structural reforms. The priorities are strengthening governance, including management and privatization of state-owned enterprises, enhancing competition, reforming the electricity sector, and strengthening social safety nets.
Keywords:
staff appraisal; Kyrgyz authorities; policy recommendation; January monetary policy meeting; headline inflation; Debt sustainability analysis; Government finance statistics; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Kyrgyz Republic: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
This Selected Issues paper undertakes a detailed analysis of the inflation dynamics and its determinants in the Kyrgyz Republic to shed light on the unprecedented inflationary surge since 2021. It employs two complementary methodologies to model a complex interplay between domestic and global factors, and policy variables. The paper constructs a new comprehensive measure of inflation expectations, encompassing both adaptive and forward-looking components, and as an additional novelty introduces external variables to the Phillips curve framework. The empirical analysis suggests that in addition to global food prices, which have historically driven inflation in the country, the role of domestic factors have become more prominent. On the other hand, the paper finds a much stronger contribution of liquidity conditions to inflation. This suggests a disconnect between policy interest rates and market liquidity, which needs to be addressed for better functioning of monetary policy transmission. The main policy implication is that to strengthen the effectiveness of monetary policy and support National Bank of Kyrgyz Republic’s intended transition to an inflation-targeting framework, excess liquidity needs to be drained and brought in conformity with the policy rate. This will require discontinuation of central bank’s participation in the domestic gold market, which is the main source of liquidity injections.
Keywords:
frontier analysis; dynamics in the Kyrgyz Republic; trade fragmentation; inflation expectation; Kyrgyz export; Inflation; Value-added tax; Income and capital gains taxes; Personal income tax; Global
Cover IMF Working Papers
Remittances and Social Safety Nets During COVID-19: Evidence From Georgia and the Kyrgyz Republic
Nordine Abidi
,
Mehdi Akhbari
,
Bashar Hlayhel
, and
Sahra Sakha
Remittance flows in emerging market and developing economies were surprisingly resilient during the COVID-19 crisis, providing much-needed income support for remittance-receiving households. However, households were impacted differently across income distributions. Using novel high-frequency household panel data for Georgia and the Kyrgyz Republic and a difference-in-differences approach, we find that as household income fell during the pandemic, remittance-receiving households were more affected than non-remittance-receiving households. Importantly, we find that the incomes of poor, remittance-receiving households in the Kyrgyz Republic were more adversely affected than their non-remittance-receiving counterparts. In contrast, in Georgia, affluent remittance-receiving households experienced more significant income declines than poor remittance-receiving households. This heterogeneous impact can largely be explained by variations in the effectiveness of social safety nets in the two countries. Our results have important policy implications. Although remittances remained resilient during the pandemic, they affected households differently. As such, policymakers should prioritize addressing gaps in social safety nets to support the most vulnerable.
Keywords:
COVID-19; Remittances; Central Asia; remittance-receiving household; household income; remittance flow; households in Georgia; remittance-sending country; remittance receiver; Income; Social assistance spending; Income distribution; North America; Middle East and Central Asia; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust—Fifth Tranche of Debt Service Relief in The Context of The COVID-19 Pandemic
International Monetary Fund. Finance Dept.
,
International Monetary Fund. Legal Dept.
, and
International Monetary Fund. Strategy, Policy, & Review Department
The Executive Board approved a two-step approach consisting of (i) an immediate approval of the disbursement of a fourth tranche of debt service relief to all qualified beneficiary countries covering the period from October 16, 2021 through January 10, 2022, and (ii) consideration by January 2022 of a final tranche of CCRT debt service relief through April 13, 2022 based on a brief Board paper with an assessment of resources at that time. In accordance with the two-step approach, this paper provides a brief overview on recent developments in CCRT-eligible countries followed by an update on the CCRT’s funding status and resources assessment.
Keywords:
CCRT; debt service relief; CCRT instrument; CCRT debt service relief; CCRT resource; COVID cash buffer; Debt relief; Debt service; COVID-19; Global
Cover Policy Papers
Catastrophe Containment and Relief Trust—Fourth Tranche of Debt Service Relief in The Context of The Covid-19 Pandemic and Approval of Additional Beneficiary Member Countries
International Monetary Fund
The paper provides brief updates for each CCRT-eligible country on its policy responses to the pandemic and on staff’s assessments of these policies, the use of resources freed up by debt service relief, and the implementation of governance safeguards commitments. The paper also provides an update on the financial situation of the CCRT. The generous support from 17 donor countries and the EU has mobilized SDR 609 million in new pledges since the onset of the pandemic.
Keywords:
debt service relief; CCRT country; fund engagement; CCRT debt relief; CCRT resource; Debt relief; Debt service; COVID-19; Balance of payments need; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Republic of Tajikistan: 2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
Reported economic activity has been strong in 2018-19 and inflation has picked up. The monetary framework is being strengthened. The external position has deteriorated. The fiscal deficit has widened as revenues have declined. Reforms to place the loss-making energy sector on a sound financial footing are underway. The authorities’ development strategy relies on large infrastructure projects— Roghun dam and other large SOE-implemented projects — that need sizable external financing. The financial sector is recovering from the 2015-16 crisis, with a decline in nonperforming loans and improved profitability. The authorities are making efforts to strengthen bank supervision and regulation. However, two formerly-systemic banks remain insolvent and further reforms are needed to restore public confidence in banks.
Keywords:
debt vulnerability; medium debt-carrying capacity; bank governance; NBT reform action plan; depositor confidence; A. exchange rate Policy; dynamics equation; debt recording; Exchange rate flexibility; Exchange rates; Global; Central Asia
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Kyrgyz Republic: 2021 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
The Kyrgyz economy is highly dependent on remittances and foreign aid and does not have access to international capital markets. Inequality is relatively low, but poverty is widespread. The COVID crisis led to a sharp recession with output contracting by 8.6 percent in 2020, public debt rising by 16.5 percent of GDP to 68 percent, and the som depreciating by 19 percent against the US$. Under the assumption that the global pandemic begins to decisively recede this year, a rebound in growth is expected in 2021–22. However, significant uncertainty surrounds the baseline outlook and the recovery could be delayed if downside risks materialize. In the medium to long term, the main challenge is to create jobs for about 65,000 new jobseekers annually and to reduce labor out-migration. This will require deep structural reforms to transform the economy from a reliance on remittances to more diversified and private sector-led growth that is underpinned by higher investment and exports.
Keywords:
expenditure reallocation; investor confidence; Kyrgyz authorities; staff report projection; gold production; External sector statistics; Debt sustainability analysis; Global; Central Asia