State budget to receive the largest amount of income from VAT revenues in 2019; State allocates almost US$1 billion to the authorized capital of banks; Volume of net foreign exchange reserves of Uzbekistan reaches US$25.71 billion; Return of mistakenly paid taxes will be translated into electronic form. This will shorten the process by 3-4 times; Uzbekistan will implement blockchain in public services by means of EU grant
State budget to receive the largest amount of income from VAT revenues in 2019
The government submitted to Oliy Majlis a draft state budget for 2019. Its parameters are calculated based on the projected GDP growth by 5.4% with inflation at 15.5%.
According to information published on the website of the Ministry of Finance, revenues are projected at 102.6 trillion sums and expenses at 107.1 trillion sums. The largest amount of income is planned to be received from the value added tax – 40.7 trillion sums, which is closely followed by customs duty (12.6 trillion sums) and personal income tax (11.3 trillion sums).
In general, it is forecasted that the state budget deficit will amount to 4.4 trillion sums.
State allocates almost US$1 billion to the authorized capital of banks
On 22 November, a videoconference meeting was held under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on reforming the banking system and strengthening the financial stability of banks, increasing the role of commercial banks in regional development and entrepreneurship.
As a result of the systemic measures taken over the past two years, the scale of lending by banks of investment projects has increased significantly, the loan portfolio increased by 3.2 times. As part of regional development programs, 6.4 thousand projects received loans for 27 trillion soums.
The meeting addressed the issue of problem loans. Although their volume is less than 1.8 percent of total loans, this indicator has grown since the beginning of the year. In the regions, 76 percent of problem loans accounted for the city of Tashkent, 5 percent for Kashkadarya and 3 percent for the Bukhara region.
Over the past two years, the state allocated almost US$1 billion to the authorized capital of banks. Despite the measures taken, the share of individuals and legal entities in their capital has decreased sharply. In this regard, the need to actively attract private sector funds in the authorized capital of banks was noted.
Volume of net foreign exchange reserves of Uzbekistan reaches US$25.71 billion
The volume of net foreign exchange reserves of Uzbekistan as of 1 November totaled US$25.71 billion. Growth for the month amounted to US$220 million, according to the data of the Central Bank of Uzbekistan.
According to the regulator, in October, gross foreign exchange reserves rose nearly US$100 million and totaled more than US$26.49 billion. Currency assets amounted to US$11.84 billion, which is US$610 million lower compared to October 2018.
The volume of monetary gold made up US$14.65 billion, which is US$700 million higher compared to the last month of 2018. The increase in the gold and foreign exchange reserve in October, according to the Central Bank, is partially due to growth of the price of gold from US$1,183.5 to US$1,217.7 per troy ounce. According to the regulator, the estimated impact on the increase was US$403.2 million.
Return of mistakenly paid taxes will be translated into electronic form. This will shorten the process by 3-4 times.
Representatives of various departments of Uzbekistan have agreed to introduce a system of electronic sending of documents for the collection of taxes and other obligatory payments by authorized bodies through electronic interaction of information systems.
The press service of the Ministry of Finance reports that this will make it possible to promptly return erroneously or overpaid funds.
Now such a refund requires from 15 to 20 days. As a result of the transition to a complete electronic system, the process will be reduced by 3-4 times.
Uzbekistan will implement blockchain in public services by means of EU grant
The European Union has allocated a grant of 10 million euros to the Ministry of Justice, the ministry’s press service reports.
It is planned to equip the State Services Agency under the Ministry of Justice, its territorial divisions and Centers of public services by purchasing server, computer, network, telecommunications equipment, electronic queue systems and video surveillance.
The project is also to improve the quality and efficiency of public services in five pilot regions, and to create Centers of innovative ideas and development. Besides, it is planned to create a specialized web portal of public services, an integrated database for the exchange of information between authorized bodies and centers of public services and the provision of public services through mobile applications.