Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 22 December 2022, a regular meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis was held. In it, the deputies considered the draft law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2023” in the second reading.

It was noted that as a result of large-scale reforms carried out in our country in recent years, the volume of gross domestic product for the first time exceeded US$80 billion. This year, US$8 billion in foreign direct investment has been injected into the economy, while exports have reached US$19 billion.

In the Address of the President to the Oliy Majlis, it was noted that in the face of a difficult geopolitical situation in the world, a growing shortage of energy resources, as well as a need for food products, an increase in the cost of financial resources, it is necessary to fully mobilize internal capabilities, first of all, strengthen reforms to improve the business environment.

First of all, for certain areas with difficult conditions, the rates of turnover tax, income tax and social tax are set at 1 percent, entrepreneurs in these areas will pay only 1 percent of the amount assessed for land and property tax, and individual entrepreneurs will be exempt from fixed taxes.

And from 1 January 2023, by reducing the value-added tax rate from 15 to 12 percent, at least 14 trillion soums a year will remain at the disposal of entrepreneurs.

It was noted at the meeting that in the course of preparing the bill for the second reading, the Committee on Budget and Economic Reforms, together with members of the working group, conducted an in-depth analysis of the revenues and expenditures of the State budget and the budgets of the State Trust Funds, local budgets, the activities provided for by the draft State Trust Funds, and their sources financing.

The compatibility and validity of the norms reflected in the relevant articles of the draft law with the decrees and resolutions of the President and resolutions of the Government were studied.

At the meetings of the working group held by the committee, the deputies made many proposals for further improvement of the project, most of them were taken into account when finalizing the document.

Also, at meetings of relevant committees and factions of political parties, as part of the discussion of the document, proposals and recommendations were considered on allocating budget funds to ministries and departments provided for by the bill, increasing their use and efficiency.

Detailed explanations were given on the issues raised by the deputies in the areas of healthcare, education, agriculture, culture and others. In particular, some justified proposals will be taken into account in the process of improving the budget and tax systems.

The proposed draft law gives the first-level managers of budgetary funds the right to redistribute funds from one development program to another in order to promptly resolve existing financial problems.

Along with this, starting from 2023, the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis will hear reports from the distributors of budgetary funds of the first level on the state of implementation of target indicators for the use of funds allocated from the republican budget.

At the meeting, after a heated discussion of the draft main financial document, the questions of members of parliament were answered in detail by the Minister of Finance T. Ishmetov, responsible ministries and departments.

Members of the faction also expressed their views on the draft law.

After a long debate, the document was adopted by the deputies, it will be sent to the Senate.