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16 Feb 2023
IMF Executive Board Concludes 2022 Article IV Consultation with the Kyrgyz Republic
The economy of the Kyrgyz Republic has shown resilience to the spillovers from the war in Ukraine and is estimated to have grown by 5.5 percent in 2022, driven by gold production, trade, transportation, and agriculture. Annual inflation increased to over 15 percent during the year, mainly due to high global food and fuel prices, but core inflation also rose to double digits. The general government deficit, including lending to energy sector state-owned enterprises, is estimated to have widened to 5.2 percent of GDP in 2022 from 0.8 percent the year before, primarily due to a significant increase in public sector salaries and pensions, and public investment, offsetting efforts to strengthen tax administration that have yielded a remarkable improvement in tax revenue of around 6 percentage points of GDP. Imports are estimated to have increased considerably, partly because of higher oil prices, but also due to an increase in transit trade, while gold exports were negligible. The banking system has remained financially healthy, but non-performing loans increased to more than 12 percent of total loans.
