Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Finance Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov held talks with the Mission of the International Monetary Fund, headed by Mr. Albert Eger.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Finance, the parties discussed prospects for further development of the economy of Uzbekistan.

Yeger noted that as a result of the liberalization of the foreign exchange market and trade, as well as the opening of the borders of Uzbekistan, the growth in exports and imports in the first half of 2018 significantly exceeded the forecast figures.

Compared to the first half of 2017, inflation for the CPI in January-June 2018 slowed by one percentage point to 6¼ percent, while CPI inflation decreased year-on-year from a maximum of 20 percent in January this year to 18½ percent in June.

It was separately under;ined that the tax reform is the most important economic project of the government, which, first of all, is necessary in order to create more jobs of higher quality.

Eger confidently said that the approved reform is an important and courageous step on the way to a more rational tax system. The reform will unequivocally improve the effectiveness of the tax system by expanding the tax base and reducing tax rates. Significant reduction of the tax burden on labor resources in the private sector, taking into account the urgent needs in Uzbekistan for creating jobs; this should create incentives for the legalization of employment and for providing information on actually paid wages.

At the same time, the parties said that a serious task for the future will be the drafting of a new Tax Code. In the next few months, it will be necessary to develop a draft of the modern Tax Code, which should be understandable to taxpayers and conduct its open discussion in the preparation process.

It was also noted that, as part of the development of the budget for 2019, the government will for the first time submit to the parliament three-year budget parameters for 2019-2021.

In general, the IMF mission believes that based on current macroeconomic forecasts, the parameters developed by the government are aimed at preserving annual budget deficits at the level of 2 percent of GDP in 2019-2021 are consistent with the objectives of the ongoing fiscal policy, focused on ensuring stability.