AKIPRESS.COM - S&P Global expects Uzbekistan's economic modernization and integration will weaken through to 2022, but remain relatively strong in a global context.
S&P affirmed its ‘BB-’ long-term and ‘B’ short-term issuer credit ratings with a stable outlook. “The stable outlook reflects our expectation that, over the next year, Uzbekistan’s fiscal and external positions will remain strong but decline slightly, due to current account deficits and government borrowing,” S&P Global added.
GDP per capita remains low, at an estimated $1,800 in 2019, but S&P expects real GDP growth to remain relatively strong, averaging just over 5% over the forecast period to 2022.
“Over our forecast period through 2022, we expect real GDP growth to average just over 5%, supported by growth in the services, manufacturing, and natural resources sectors. The construction sector is a small but growing part of GDP. The economy has been government-led for many years, and is still dependent on SOEs, which contribute a large share of GDP,” S&P Global stated.