Country's economic development in 2018 was positive – Minister of Economy

Bishkek, Feb. 15, 2019. /Kabar/. In 2018, after a decline in the first half of the year, the economic development of the country was formed in a positive way thanks to the efforts of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Economy Oleg Pankratov told at a government meeting.

He said that in 2018, Kyrgyzstan’s GDP grew by 3.5% and amounted to 557 billion soms. Excluding enterprises developing Kumtor deposit, the real GDP growth rate was also 3.5%.

“Economic growth is ensured by all sectors of the economy: in agriculture, the volume actually increased by 2.7%, construction – by 7.8%, services – by 2.1%, industry – by 5.5%. The gross output of trade in January-December 2018 amounted to 160.6 billion soms, an increase compared to 2017 amounted to 5.1%,” Pankratov said.

Moreover, according to his data, the foreign trade turnover of Kyrgyzstan in January-November 2018 amounted to $ 5.9 billion and increased by 6.2% compared to the same period in 2017.

“Last year, 555 new enterprises were created in different regions of the country and 6,735 workplaces were created. The average salary last year was 16 thousand 218 soms, which is 3.5 times more than the subsistence minimum. The subsistence minimum is 4 thousand 792 soms, and the average pension is 5 thousand 586 soms,” Pankratov noted.