Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 17 November  2018, a regular meeting of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan was held.

During the session, Deputies reviewed the State budget, budgets of state trust funds and the main directions of tax and budget policy for 2019, the press service of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan said.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan - Minister of Finance Jamshid Kuchkarov made a report at the meeting.

It should be noted that a preliminary discussion of this issue was initially held at meetings of the committees of the lower house of parliament, factions of political parties and the deputy group of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan.

For the first time in the practice of presenting the Budget Message, a forecast was made of the main directions of the country’s socio-economic development for 2019–2021. It reflects such issues as the main external and internal factors affecting fiscal indicators, the strategy of fiscal policy for 2019-2021, fiscal risks for 2019 and forecast for 2020-2021, the parameters of the State budget and the budget of state targets funds for 2019–2021. Provision is made for the consistent implementation of measures to ensure the modernization and diversification of the economy, increase the investment attractiveness and activity of economic sectors aimed at achieving high growth rates of macroeconomic indicators and improving the welfare of the population.

As it was noted at the meeting the gross domestic product (GDP) of Uzbekistan will make up 5.4% in 2019, 6% - in 2020 and 7% - in 2021. In particular, industrial production will increase by 4.9% in 2019, in construction - by 8.4%, agriculture - 3.3% and in the services sector 6.2%, investment in fixed assets will increase by 17.0%, exports goods and services - 15.5%, imports - 6.3%.

The main directions of the tax policy for 2019 were developed in accordance with the Decree of the President dated 29 June 2018 “On the Concept for Improving the Tax Policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan”.

In line with this, it is envisaged to reduce the maximum rate of personal income tax up to 12% for all citizens with a direction to individual accumulative pension accounts 0.1% of this amount, corporate income tax – from 14 to 12%, for commercial banks - from 22 to 20%, abolition of insurance contributions of citizens to the extra-budgetary Pension Fund, deducted from citizens’ income in the form the wages. In general, due to implementation of the proposed measures, the number of taxes and obligatory payments will be reduced from 19 to 15 types.

The fiscal policy for 2019 is aimed at a balanced fiscal policy, a balanced growth of economic indicators and the stability of the financial system of the country.

It envisages implementation of measures aimed at improving the efficiency of planning budget funds, effectiveness of their use and improvement of intergovernmental relations. In particular, it is envisaged to improve the process of planning and executing the State budget, improving intergovernmental relations, increasing the interest of local government bodies in expanding the ability of relevant regions, districts and cities to pay taxes, achieving strict budget compliance to ensure its sustainability, consolidating financial budgets flows in the budget system.

In order to increase the sustainability of budget planning, it is proposed to introduce a medium-term budget planning mechanism by approving the State budget for the forecast year and budget guidelines for the next two years.

In 2019, revenues of the State Budget of Uzbekistan are projected at 102.6 trillion soums or 24.2% to gross domestic product. It is planned to increase revenues to the State budget compared to the current year by 37.8%.

Receipt of the revenue part of the State budget is expected due to income from direct taxes in the amount of 20.7 trillion soums, on indirect taxes - 55.5 trillion soums, from resource taxes and property taxes - 14.6 trillion soums, tax for the use of subsoil - 10.7 trillion soums, tax for the use of water resources - 0.3 trillion soums.

In 2019, state budget expenditures will amount to 107.1 trillion soums. This is 1.4 times more than in the previous year, while the State budget expenditures are focused mainly on social and economic spheres. Thus, social spending will amount to 57.8 trillion soums or 54.0% to total expenses. At the same time, the growth of these expenses will increase by 34.4% compared to the previous year.

About 4.0 trillion soums will be allocated to financing preschool education institutions, general education - 17.1 trillion soums and training - 3.8 trillion soums.

Some 12.1 trillion soums will be spent on health financing or 11.3% of total expenditure with an increase of 30.5% compared to the previous year.

About 1.0 trillion soums will be allocated for culture, the development of science - 0.8 trillion soums. Expenditures for the payment of social benefits, material assistance to low-income families and compensation payments will amount to 5.26 trillion soums with an increase of 61.8% compared to the previous year.

At the expense of all sources of funding, 6.3 trillion soums will be allocated to implementation of the state programs “Obod Qishloq” and “Obod Mahalla”, which will provide improved living conditions in 478 settlements.

As part of the implementation of state programs, it is planned to carry out reconstruction and modernization of the drinking water supply and sewerage system at 372 facilities in 2019, construction and reconstruction of 1,916.1 km of the water supply network. As a result of the measures taken, the coverage of centralized water supply in 2019 will reach 77.0%.

At the meeting, the deputies discussed in detail the budget message and its main directions.

Deputies noted that it is important to ensure public and parliamentary control over use of budget funds.

At the same time, at the meeting, the Government was invited to take into account the opinions and proposals of factions of political parties, the deputy group of the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan, as well as the opinions and suggestions of the population, expressed during meetings of deputies of the Legislative Chamber in the field.

Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov answered in detail the questions of the representatives of the parliament on the draft main financial document.

The Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov spoke at the meeting.

Representatives of all factions of political parties and the deputy group of the Ecological Movement made statements to support the Government’s budget, budgets of state target funds and the main directions of the tax and budget policy of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2019 submitted by the Government. The project was approved by the Legislative Chamber.