UNDP Uzbekistan

А workshop on improving the synergies between the state and local budgets was organized by the Committee on Budget and Economic Reforms of the Legislative Chamber of Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Uzbekistan and UNDP "Budget System Reform in Uzbekistan” Project (BSRP).

According Bakhtiyor Iminov, chairman of the Committee, State budget of Uzbekistan constitutes more than 20% of GDP. Considering that 54% of the state budget is injected into the economy through local budgets, which requires better targeting, and more focus on the budget allocated to social spending.

During the workshop the issues of formation of local taxes and other compulsory payments, issues of separation of spending authority between the republican budget and local budgets in financing expenditures, sources of balancing budgets have been addressed.

State budget expenditures on social services increased from 43.5% in 2000 to 58.0% in 2011, while spending on education in 2011 amounted to 33.4%, health care to 13.3% , and social benefits for families with children and low-income families to 8.2%. Share of local budget expenditures as a whole in the state budget has increased from 47.8% in 2000 to 57.8% in 2011.

According to Katrin Schneider, an international expert engaged by UNDP, introduction of social budgeting concept assists to the economic development of a country as a whole by:
1) improving the efficiency of public spending and fiscal policy: increasing the income of the unemployed population, which in turn leads to lower tax burdens on the state budget by reducing the amount of unemployment benefits paid;
2) increasing economic efficiency through increase in productivity (with an increase in the quality as well) of the population;
3) increasing women's employment opportunities, which reduces the population growth, which in turn results in growth of gross domestic product in the calculation of per capita.