UzReport.com
October 19

ADB [Asian Development Bank] will maintain an average lending level of 150m dollars a year to Uzbekistan over the next three years, according to its Country Strategy and Program Update for 2003\­2005, endorsed today.

Should further reforms be implemented, operations and lending levels would be adjusted to respond to emerging needs.

ADB will support efforts in poverty reduction and human development. Specifically, the lending strategy will focus on existing and emerging priority sectors, which include the banking system, corporate governance, education, agriculture, public utilities, and large-scale privatization.

At the same time, ADB proposes targeting recently emerging priorities of the government, including assistance to drought-affected areas in western Uzbekistan, the health sector and mitigation of the social costs of reforms.

ADB's operations will consist of project loans, technical assistance and, if appropriate, quick disbursing operations. With regard to technical assistance grants, ADB will support:

Strengthening institution and building capacity in public and private sectors;

Easing social costs of reforms;

Fostering regional cooperation;

Preserving the environment.

Uzbekistan's gross domestic product increased in the first half of 2002 by 4.2 per cent, spurred by robust growth in services.

However, the economic situation has remained difficult due to falling cotton prices, overvalued exchange rates, and rising debt service payments.

The government does not have an official national poverty reduction programme. ADB has provided technical assistance to pave the way for a poverty [reduction] partnership agreement expected to be finalized by 2003.

The Update, issued annually, builds upon the strategic framework laid out in the Country Strategy and Program for Uzbekistan. It refines the assistance programme in light of the latest economic, policy, and poverty developments.

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