DUSHANBE, October 1, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- Tajikistan’s gross domestic product (GDP) will not reach 3 percent in 2010, Tajik known economist, Professor Hojimuhammad Umarov said in an interview with Asia-Plus, commenting on the draft national budget for 2010.

According to him, GDP’s growth projected by the government for 2010 is impossible. “In my opinion, the country’s GDP will not reach 3 percent in 2010,” said the expert, “Tajikistan’s economy strongly depends on other countries.  Only when Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries, with which Tajikistan has close economic ties, come out of the crisis, one may speak about certain improvement of economic situation in our country.”

He noted that Tajikistan has not adopted an active program for combating economic crisis.  “The anti-crisis program proposed by the government is a sluggish program like “if it improves there it will improve here as well”,” said Umarov, “If we had had an efficient anti-crisis program, GDP would have risen 3 or even 5 or 7 percent, but because the government had failed to develop such a program, the economic growth rate in Tajikistan will remain very low.”

He added that 7 percent inflation projected by the draft budget for 2010 “is a standard figure for the government.”  “Every year, they state that inflation will stand at 7 percent, however, they always fail to curb inflation.  I think the rate of inflation next year will be much higher than 7 percent.”