Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 16 January, a video conference meeting was held under the chairmanship of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the priority tasks of ensuring macroeconomic stability and economic development in 2024.

In 2023, economic growth in our country was 6 percent. In particular, an increase of 6 percent was recorded in industry, by 6.8 percent in the service sector, by 6.4 percent in construction, and by 4.1 percent in agriculture.

This year it is planned to increase the gross domestic product by at least 6 percent and bring it to US$100 billion. The tasks and necessary measures in this direction were discussed at the meeting.

The head of state emphasized that this requires, first of all, workers in the economic complex, who are at the forefront of reforms, to work even harder.

For example, with an increase in industrial production, the added value of products does not exceed 40 percent. This is mainly due to dependence on imports, high energy consumption and excessive costs.

In this regard, it has been determined that 2024 will be the year of efficiency and cost reduction for managers of the economic complex and all state enterprises. Using the example of several industries, the possibilities of reducing costs by optimizing procurement and logistics, saving energy resources and digitalization were analyzed.

This year, the complex will increase added value by 45 percent, reduce production costs by 15 percent in large industries, and overall ensure industrial growth by 7 percent.

It was proposed to link the activities of the heads of the economic block with monthly, quarterly and annual performance indicators (KPIs), and to review the number of deputies.

The issue of financial discipline was particularly touched upon at the meeting.

Last year, individual state-owned enterprises failed to ensure the payment of 8 trillion soums in dividends and taxes to the budget. 

In Syrdarya and Jizzakh regions, tax revenues increased by 20 percent, while in Khorezm, Bukhara and Kashkadarya regions this figure did not even reach 7 percent.

Such cases indicate shortcomings in the work of heads and deputies of territorial tax departments and tax officials in the mahalla. Therefore, the need to revise the tax system is pointed out and new directions are identified.

The first direction - the functions of working with 40 thousand budgetary organizations will be transferred from the districts of the newly created Interdistrict Inspectorate of Budgetary Organizations under the Tax Committee. The inspection will be completely digitalized and integrated into the Treasury electronic system.

The second direction is that the committee will also create an interdistrict inspectorate for the collection of tax debts. It will be given the same powers as the Bureau of Enforcement. Thanks to this, it will be possible to transfer another 200 tax officers in the districts to the mahalla.

The third direction is that a separate system will be created to work with 80 largest enterprises and 35 commercial banks, providing 50 percent of the republic’s tax revenues. For this purpose, a new structure is being created within the Inspectorate for Large Taxpayers, which will interact with the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The Ministry of Economy and Finance is entrusted with the task of ensuring the timeliness of tax revenues and preventing unjustified increases in enterprise costs.

Regarding the customs sector, it was noted that last year, benefits worth almost 60 trillion soums were applied to the import of goods from abroad, but no analysis of their effectiveness was carried out. In this regard, instructions were given to study all goods imported under preferential treatment.

Another source of budget revenue is privatization and auction of land. However, 484 state assets included in the privatization program are not put up for auction.

For example, dozens of grain enterprises put up for auction remain unsold because their prices were set incorrectly.

The Cabinet of Ministers has been tasked with eliminating shortcomings and preparing a new privatization program designed to provide 20 trillion soums in revenue this year.

Last year, 1 trillion soums came from land auctions, and 12 thousand new projects appeared. In order to expand this work, responsible persons have been tasked with developing master plans for 70 districts by the end of the year, and next year for all districts.

The most pressing issue today is the shadow economy. The analysis shows that a large volume of turnover in the service sector, construction and industry remains in the “shadow”.

The head of our state said that the shadow economy is an obstacle to fair competition and the activities of decent entrepreneurs, and outlined additional measures.

Currently, 14 bodies are involved in the fight against the shadow economy and economic crime. In order to coordinate and strengthen these activities, the powers of the Department for Combating Economic Crimes under the Prosecutor General’s Office will be expanded. The department will be provided with the most modern facilities and experienced specialists, and a scientific, analytical and training center will be opened. At the same time, a separate department for the shadow economy and its regional departments will be created in the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The issue of the effectiveness of budget expenditures was also discussed at the meeting.

Last year, illegal spending amounted to 1.2 trillion soums, as well as shortages and thefts of 200 billion soums. Funds allocated for health and agricultural programs were not fully utilized. Cases such as the calculation of wages for a non-existent employee or actually unfulfilled work, unjustified receipt of loans and payment of bonuses have also become more frequent.

In this regard, the activities of the State Financial Supervision Inspectorate under the Ministry of Economy and Finance were called unsatisfactory. A decision was made to transfer this structure to the Department for Combating Economic Crimes of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

The task has been set to take control of the correctness of spending 313 trillion soums provided for in the budget for the current year.

The issue of reducing inflation is also relevant. As a result of the measures taken, inflation last year did not exceed 9 percent.

It was emphasized that food inflation can be curbed only by increasing food production, and the Minister of Agriculture and khokims were given corresponding instructions.

Measures to achieve inflation below 9 percent this year were discussed.

Issues of ensuring the stability of the banking system and lending to the economy were also touched upon. The task has been set to develop a program to reduce loan rates by at least 2-3 percent based on market mechanisms.

At the meeting, special attention was paid to the issue of employing the population. In this regard, the importance of effective implementation of the recently adopted program was emphasized.

It was noted that vocational education institutions of the employment system and the work being done on external labor migration are not at the proper level. The Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction has identified additional tasks to eliminate shortcomings, provide vocational training to the population and create jobs.

At the end of the meeting, leaders of the economic complex, ministers and khokims reported on their plans for the current year.