Turkmenistan: Crisis? What Crisis?

Turkmenistan enjoyed double-digit recession-busting growth in the first two months of 2009, the government has claimed.

According to Tuvakmammed Japarov, Vice-Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, investments in January-February tripled compared to the same period last year. Foreign trade turnover jumped 72.3 percent and the volume of exports was 3.2 times larger than imports, the Turkmen state news agency reported March 13.

Chairman of the Central Bank, Guvanchmyrat Geklenov, added Turkmenistan was not experiencing any capital liquidity issues. Banks doubled the number of loans to individuals and dispersed 41.7 percent more loans to businesses in the first two months of 2009 compared to January-February 2008, he said.

However, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov warned it would take "a lot of hard work" to maintain gross domestic product (GDP) growth close to last year's 10.7 percent. He urged officials to keep a close watch on inflation.

The International Monetary Fund predicts GDP growth in Turkmenistan will fall by 0.5 percent this year to 10.3 percent. Inflation is expected to hit 12 percent, a point lower than 2008.