Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 17 November 2018, MPs of Legislative Chamber of Uzbekistan discussed implementation of the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the first nine months of 2018, the press service of the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan said.

It was said that local budgets of Karakalpakstan, regions and Tashkent city received additional income for 220.2 billion soums. It was noted that these funds created an opportunity to increase real incomes, the level and quality of life of the population, reduce dependence on funding from the republican budget, and enhance the freedom of state authorities in the localities.

During the reporting period, the social orientation of the State budget expenditures was maintained. Funds in the amount of 53.4% of total expenditures were allocated to finance the social sphere.

About 65.8% of the funds, allocated to the social sphere and social support of the population, are directed to financing of wages and deductions relative to wages.

During the reporting period, deputies gave primary attention to further deepening reforms in the education system, improving educational standards and programs, aimed at improving the level and quality of the educational process, strengthening the wages of workers, the material and technical base of preschool educational institutions, vocational colleges, academic lyceums and higher education institutions. In particular, it is estimated as a noteworthy fact that 13.6 trillion soums was allocated from the State budget to finance the costs of the maintenance and development of public education institutions.

At the same time, representatives of the parliament also paid special attention to the delay in this direction. It was criticized that during the reporting period the utilization of 92 billion soums allocated for the maintenance and development of educational institutions was not used.

During the first nine months of 2018, 123.2 billion soums were used to finance ongoing scientific and technical projects, in particular, 104.1 billion soums - to finance basic and applied scientific and technical, and 19.1 billion soums - innovative projects.

About 2.13 trillion soums from the state budget were directed to social support and improve living standards of population.

Deputies also comprehensively discussed issues of financing medical institutions. It was noted that as a result of measures to implement various state programs in the field of health care, the State budget allocated funds in the amount of 6.57 trillion soums or 22.7% of total expenditures directed to the social sphere.

During the discussions, it was criticized that 129.9 billion soums of funds allocated for implementation of certain measures in the health sector on the basis of decrees of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Government remained unused.

As of 1 October 2018, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, khokimiyats of the regions and the city of Tashkent sent 474.5 billion soums from the local budgets to ensure the implementation of the “Obod Qishloq program. In addition, in April-September 2018, at the expense of the republican budget, 619.6 billion soums were transferred to Obod Qishloq funds under local administrations.

Some 214.2 billion soums were allocated from the State budget to finance the activities, envisaged in the Obod Mahalla program.

In the reporting period, the revenue part of local budgets was fulfilled by 12.3% relative to the forecast indicators.

During the first nine months of 2018, large-scale work was carried out to increase the autonomy of local government bodies in managing local budget funds, deepening the process of sharply reducing the dependence of budget execution on the center, forming local budgets of local khokimiyats, and increasing responsibility for the effective use of funds. As a result of these measures in the reporting period, the amount of additional revenues of local budgets made up 2.9 trillion soums or compared to last year they had almost 5.8 times more funds. The part of these funds were directed to finance state programs, financed from local budgets.

Deputies comprehensively discussed the report on execution of the State budget and budgets of state trust funds in the first nine months of 2018 and adopted a resolution approving it.