Catalog

	Table of Contents
p. 9 of 44 BACK | NEXT Country Reports East and Central Asia Azerbaijan People’s Republic of China Kazakhstan Republic of Korea Kyrgyz Republic Mongolia Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Mekong Pacific South Asia Southeast Asia

Annual Report 2002 : East and Central Asia

---

Tajikistan

Economic performance

In 2002, Tajikistan experienced its fifth year of growth, driven by the aluminum production industry and the agriculture sector. The economy grew by 9.1%. Consumer spending also increased, fueled by foreign remittances estimated at $10 million per month, or 1% of GDP. Almost 800,000 Tajiks are believed to be working abroad, either permanently or intermittently, regularly transferring funds to their home country.

Progress made on restructuring the banking sector resulted in a rise in bank deposits for the first time since 1997. The Government made progress in its efforts to privatize and restructure the agriculture sector by moving to eliminate local government interference and addressing the high debt burden of state-owned farms. But financing the cotton subsector, the mainstay of agriculture sector growth, continued to be a problem that required occasional intervention by the central bank to make up for the shortfall of working capital. Monetary policy was relatively tight and as a result, annual inflation fell to 14.5% in 2002. External debt accounted for over 100% of GDP at the end of 2001.

ADB operations

Operational strategy: Based on the interim operational strategy prepared in 1998, ADB supports Tajikistan’s transition to a market economy, postconflict rehabilitation and reconstruction, and natural disaster rehabilitation (see the Special Theme chapter). The strategy focuses on agriculture; infrastructure rehabilitation, particularly roads and power; and the social sector. Based on the National Poverty Reduction Strategy, endorsed by the Parliament in June 2002, ADB prepared and concluded with the Government a PPA in December 2002. A CSP will be prepared to reflect Tajikistan’s stabilized political and social situation.

Policy dialogue: Dialogue with the Government focused on governance, private sector development, and cross-border trade and transportation, in addition to the power, transportation, social, and agriculture sectors. The Government confirmed that ADB’s operational strategy adequately supports its development priorities.

Loans and technical assistance: Four loans totaling $70.3 million were approved in 2002 for the emergency Baipaza landslide stabilization and agriculture rehabilitation project; a loan component for facilitating regional trade and customs cooperation between the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan; and a component for a regional power trans- mission modernization project. Five technical assistance totaling $2.7 million were approved (see tables 1, 6, 24, and 25 in the Statistical Annex).

Project implementation: Since joining ADB in 1998, Tajikistan has received 10 loans totaling $172.9 million, of which 9 were active at the end of 2002. Contract awards totaled $32.6 million, bringing the cumulative figure to $59.1 million. The contract award ratio was 25.1%—higher than the ADB-wide average of 22.6%. Disbursements in 2002 totaled $14.1 million, bringing cumulative disbursements to $39.2 million. The disbursement ratio was 15.9%—lower than the ADB-wide average of 22.2% (see tables 14–23 in the Statistical Annex).

Back Mongolia	Next Turkmenistan