Tajikistan: Economy Nosedives, Consumer Demand Plummets

Tajikistan's trade deficit is exploding amid the global financial crisis. For the first two months of 2009, the country's overall foreign trade turnover figure fell by 17 percent to $551.7 million.

The turnover total is dominated by imports. Tajikistan exported just $120.5 million worth of goods during the first two months of 2009, compared to $431.2 million worth of imports during the same period, the Tajik State Statistics Committee reported. The 2009 import figure marked a roughly 4 percent decline with the total recorded during the corresponding timeframe last year. Exports, meanwhile, experienced a whopping 44.2 percent drop-off during the January-February period this year, compared to the year-earlier total.

Tajikistan traded with 72 countries in the first two months of 2009. Trade with the former Soviet Union accounted for $233.8 million or just over 42 percent of turnover, the CA-News.org news agency reported March 23.