BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 11
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
The Central Bank of Uzbekistan has published a report on recovery of Uzbekistan’s economy from the pandemic, Trend reports citing the bank.
“In April 2020, there was a significant decline in business activity, primarily due to restrictive measures and deteriorating conditions in global markets. A partial suspension of production and a decline in household incomes led to a decline in aggregate demand in the economy,” said the bank.
In particular, the total number of transactions through the interbank payment system decreased significantly. Compared to the same period of the last year, the decline was 39.8 percent in April and 34.7 percent in May. A gradual recovery was observed in May, when the volume of transactions increased by 7.6 percent compared to the previous month.
At the same time, payments through terminals in May 2020 increased by 25 percent compared to April 2020 and amounted to 5.2 trillion soum ($511.8 million).
"The flow of cross-border transfers is recovering. Thus, in May 2020, the volume of transfers increased by $234 million compared to April 2020 and amounted to $484 million," said the bank.
Cash proceeds to commercial banks from the sale of goods and services also began to recover in May. If in April, banks received 3.4 trillion soum (334.6 million), in May this figure rose by 44 percent and made up 4.9 trillion soum ($482.3 million).
Also, according to preliminary data for the first half of the year, the growth in construction is expected to be more than four percent and in agriculture within three percent compared to the same period last year.
In general, with the removal of restrictive measures, the situation slightly improved and there is a trend towards a gradual recovery of business activity in the economy of Uzbekistan, the report said.
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