Kyrgyz Republic: Staff Report for the 2019 Article IV Consultation—Informational Annex
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International Monetary Fund. Middle East and Central Asia Dept.
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2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report

Abstract

2019 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report

Relations with the Fund

(As of April 30, 2019)

Membership Status: Joined: May 8, 1992 Article VIII

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Latest Financial Arrangements:

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Projected Payments to the Fund 1/

(SDR million; based on existing use of resources and present holdings of SDRs):

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Status of HIPC and MDRI Assistance

On November 30, 2011, the Executive Board considered the addition of income and indebtedness criteria for end-2010 to the HIPC Initiative framework, which resulted in the removal of the Kyrgyz Republic from the ring-fenced list of eligible countries.

Safeguards Assessments

An update assessment with respect to the new ECF approved by the IMF Board on April 8, 2015 was completed on October 5, 2015. The assessment concluded that the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR) continues to have significant vulnerabilities in the legal structure, particularly in governance arrangements. The audit committee’s authority remains limited, as it only has an advisory role vis-à-vis the NBKR Board. The Banking Law, which was adopted by Parliament in September 2016, did not address all safeguards recommendations. Furthermore, the Office of the President requested amendments before signing the Law that claw back some of the improvements in central bank independence in the version originally approved by the Parliament. Key outstanding safeguards concerns include the composition of the NBKR Board, which is comprised only of executive members. Previous assessments were completed in October 2011, April 2009, October 2005, and January 2002.

Exchange Rate Arrangements

The currency of the Kyrgyz Republic has been the som (100 tyiyn = 1 som) since May 10, 1993. The de jure exchange rate arrangement is floating arrangement. The NBKR participates and intervenes in the interbank foreign exchange market to limit exchange rate volatility as necessary. The de facto exchange rate arrangement was reclassified to stabilized from other managed, effective January 26, 2018. The NBKR publishes daily the exchange rate of the som in terms of the U.S. dollar, which is determined in the interbank foreign exchange market. The official exchange rate of the som against the dollar is calculated as the daily weighted average of the exchange rates used in the purchase and sale transactions of dollars conducted in the foreign exchange market through the Automated Trade System (ATS) of the NBKR for the reporting period from 3:00 pm of the previous trading day to 3:00 pm of the current trading day. The government uses the official exchange rate for budget and tax accounting purposes as well as for all payments between the government and enterprises and other legal entities.

The Kyrgyz Republic maintains a multiple currency practice (MCP) arising from the use of the official exchange rate for government transactions. The official rate may differ by more than 2 percent from market rates because it is based on the average transaction weighted rate of the preceding day. In practice, the official and market exchange rates have stayed within a two percent band since early 2018. The authorities intend to continue to use the official exchange rate for government transactions. Staff does not recommend approval of this MCP.

Kyrgyz Republic maintains an exchange system that is free of restrictions on the making of payments and transfers for current international transactions, except for the MCP discussed above and exchange restrictions maintained for security reasons relating to the restriction of financial transactions and the freeze of accounts of certain individuals or organizations associated with terrorism pursuant to (i) relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions; and (ii) the list of current terrorist organizations designated by the U.S. Secretary of State. The authorities have notified these measures to the Fund in May 2007.

Article IV Consultations

The Kyrgyz Republic is on a 12-month consultation cycle. The 2017 Article IV consultation discussions were held in April 2017 and were completed by the Executive Board in October 2017.

FSAP Participation and ROSC Assessment

An FSAP update mission in July 2013 reviewed progress since the 2007 assessment, and the Board discussed the Financial System Stability Assessment (FSSA) along with the fifth ECF review in December 2013. The FSSA was not published. A fiscal ROSC mission was held in March 2001 and the ROSC Fiscal Transparency Module was published on March 13, 2002. A data ROSC mission was held in November 2002 and the ROSC Data Module was published in November 2003. A fiscal ROSC reassessment was held in September 2007.

Resident Representative

The eleventh resident representative of the Fund in the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Poghosyan, took his post in Bishkek in March 2019.

Relations with Other International Institutions

(As of April 2, 2019)

Technical Assistance Provided by the Fund

(January 2014–March 2019)
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List of Resident Advisors

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Statistical Issues

Data provision is adequate for surveillance. The four institutions responsible for collecting, compiling and disseminating macroeconomic statistics—the National Statistics Committee (NSC), the Ministry of Economy, the Ministry of Finance, and the National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic (NBKR)—have legal and institutional environments that support statistical quality, and their respective staff are well-versed in current methodologies.

The NSC maintains a comprehensive and regularly updated website with data that largely incorporate international methodological recommendations with adequate coverage and timeliness (http://www.stat.kg). In February 2004, the Kyrgyz Republic subscribed to the SDDS.

National Accounts

In general, dissemination of national accounts statistics is timely. Technical assistance has been received from the IMF, EUROSTAT, OECD, the World Bank, and bilateral donors. While significant progress has been made in improving the national accounts estimation process, problems persist regarding the quality of the source data. Efforts are needed to improve the quality of the source data for quarterly GDP estimates. Moreover, while the quarterly GDP estimates are disseminated on a discrete basis for SDDS purposes, these estimates are still derived from cumulative data. Difficulties also remain in properly estimating the degree of underreporting, especially in the private sector.

Five IMF technical assistance missions on national accounts were conducted during the period 2016–18. The first two missions in April 2016 and April 2017 contributed to the development of quarterly source data on a discrete basis. The next three peripatetic missions contributed to the compilation of quarterly GDP estimates based on discrete quarterly data. The latest mission conducted in November 2018 finalized the compilation of quarterly GDP estimates for 2010–17. The NSC is planning to disseminate discrete quarterly estimates of GDP by June 2019.

These missions also contributed to the improvement of annual GDP estimates by: (i) reducing the discrepancies between GDP by production and expenditure; and (ii) improving the estimates of imputed rent of owner-occupied dwellings.

Price and Labor Market Statistics

The concepts and definitions used in the CPI, which has been published since January 1995, are broadly consistent with international standards. The price index covers all urban resident households of all sizes and income levels, but needs to cover rural households, which comprise the majority of the population.

The PPI, which has been published since October 1996, is compiled broadly in accordance with international standards, although its coverage needs to be improved. The coverage of the PPI was broadened in May 1997 and is expected to be further expanded in the coming years.

Progress has been made in computing unit value indices for imports and exports. Work continues regarding computation of these indices using a standard index presentation and the development of an export price index. However, problems in customs administration have led to incomplete coverage of trade and the lack of an appropriate valuation system. Moreover, the data processed by customs have suffered due to the use of an outdated computer software system.

Problems exist in the compilation of the average wage, especially with respect to the valuation of payments in kind and the coverage of the private sector. Monthly and annual data are not comparable because of different coverage and classifications. These problems extend to employment data as well. The coverage of unemployment includes an estimate of unregistered unemployed.

Government Finance Statistics

The Kyrgyz Republic has been a beneficiary of a SECO funded three-year project (2016–2019) that aims at improving fiscal transparency. Since 2018 the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic compiles and disseminates annual GFS for the whole general government, including social security funds, and extended the data coverage with balance sheet and functional classification of expenditure. Starting in Q1 2018, the authorities began reporting quarterly general government data for publication in the IFS. The data reported for publication in the GFS Yearbook start in 2012 and cover general government and its subsectors. Data are now being compiled using the GFSM 2014 analytical framework. However, on-lending to loss-making energy state-owned enterprises are incorrectly classified as accumulation of financial assets below the line rather than spending (i.e. transfers) above the line, which is inconsistent with the GFSM Manual.

In May 2018 the Kyrgyz Republic started regularly reporting debt securities and loans to the common WB / IMF quarterly Public Sector Debt Statistics (PSDS) database.

The Ministry of Finance is working on: i) reconciling the deficit and financing data; ii) compiling quarterly data and metadata for all PSDS instruments; and iii) reconciling all macroeconomic statistics.

Monetary and Financial Statistics (MFS)

The NBKR reports regular data using the IMF recommended Standardized Report Forms (SRFs) and covering the central bank balance sheet (SRF 1SR), other depository corporations (SRF 2SR), and other financial corporations (OFCs, SRF 4SR). Going forward, the NBKR needs to expand the coverage of the OFC survey by including insurance corporations, pension funds, and investment funds. The NBKR reports some data and indicators of the Financial Access Survey (FAS), including the two indicators of the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.

Financial Sector Surveillance

The NBKR reports Financial Soundness Indicators (FSIs) to STA on a regular quarterly basis. All core and additional FSIs relevant for the Kyrgyz Republic are reported.

External Sector Statistics

Starting with 2017, quarterly data on the balance of payments and international investment position (IIP) are compiled and disseminated following the sixth edition of the Balance of Payments and International Investment Position Manual (BPM6) basis. Data are disseminated meeting the SDDS required timeliness and periodicity. Further improvements are needed in estimation of shuttle trade and remittances, in coverage of transactions related to direct investment (inward and outward), including investment income, and in cross-border transactions related to gold mining. Also, further work is needed for adjusting the trade statistics to the requirements of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and in reconciling the customs declarations database for the trade with EAEU members and with the rest of the world.

The Kyrgyz Republic participates in the IMF’s Coordinated Direct Investment Survey (CDIS), reporting inward and outward direct investment.

The External Debt Division of the Ministry of Finance is in charge of monitoring the public sector external debt and of submitting the gross external debt statistics (GEDS) for all institutional sectors to the World Bank’s Quarterly External Debt Statistics (QEDS) database. The compilation of QEDS tables is executed in collaboration with the NBKR; the latter provides inputs on private sector external debt (banks and other sectors).

Kyrgyz Republic: Table of Common Indicators Required for Surveillance

(As of May 2, 2019)

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Any reserve assets that are pledged or otherwise encumbered should be specified separately. Also, data should comprise short-term liabilities linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means as well as the notional values of financial derivatives to pay and to receive foreign currency, including those linked to a foreign currency but settled by other means.

Both market-based and officially determined, including discount rates, money market rates, rates on treasury bills, notes, and bonds.

Foreign and domestic financing only.

The general government consists of the central government (budgetary funds, extra budgetary funds, and social security funds) and state and local governments.

Including currency and maturity composition.

Includes external gross financial asset and liability positions vis-à-vis nonresidents.

Daily (D), Weekly (W), Monthly (M), Quarterly (Q), Annually (A), Irregular (I), Not Available (NA).

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When a member has overdue financial obligations outstanding for more than three months, the amount of such arrears will be shown in this section.

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