Kyrgyzstan: IMF Issues Warning on Economy

The upcoming year is going to be "very difficult" for the Kyrgyz economy, the International Monetary Fund is cautioning.

Economic growth is likely to slow to just 1 percent in 2009 compared to 7.5 percent in last year. A sharp drop in remittances and troubled Kazakh and Russian economies are key factors impacting Kyrgyzstan's economic prospects, the IMF mission to Bishkek said in a statement March 18. "Certainly, there is a risk of further deterioration of the situation," the statement added.

In the first two months of 2009, Kyrgyzstan's gross domestic product contracted by 1.1 per cent and industrial output fell by 25 percent. Earlier in March, the IMF listed Kyrgyzstan among the world's top 20 low-income countries likely to be ravaged by the global financial crisis.