Turkmenistan projected to double its GDP over next 5 years - IMF mission chief
2013-02-04 17:15:18
Turkmenistan’s economy has maintained “high real growth rates” over the last several years, according to Veronica Bacalu, IMF Mission Chief for Turkmenistan.
“If we compare Turkmenistan to itself a decade ago we see a big change,” Bacalu told a panel discussion at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) on Thursday. “GDP has increased five-fold during this decade. GDP per capita has tripled in the past decade and we forecast that the GDP will double over the next five years.”
“Everybody knows that Turkmenistan is number four in the world by the amount of proven gas reserves. Growth in this country has been driven mainly by gas and oil sector, hydrocarbon but construction and services have also contributed quite a lot,” Bacalu said adding that Turkmenistan’s image worldwide would benefit from more economic data, reported Silk Road Newsline.
“It is high on the authorities agenda and they are doing a lot because there is a mandate to improve statistics. What we are also calling them is to start disseminating wider statistics because, first of all, their policy makers would benefit from availability of consistent sectorial data, so policy making will improve but also the perceptions of foreign investors, the perceptions of whoever is interested in this country would improve,” Bacalu said.
Jan Šír and Slavomir Horak, researchers at the Institute of International Studies, Charles University, Prague and fellows at CACI, also participated in the panel. Dr. Frederick Starr, CACI Chairman, moderated the discussion.