Kyrgyzstan is a fiscal train wreck waiting to happen. The Kyrgyz government is spending with abandon, even though it inherited an economy that was already in sorry shape. Foreign donors, meanwhile, are growing increasingly wary, as concerns mount about Bishkek’s reluctance to tackle transparency concerns.
A derelict hospital refurbished last year to serve as a battered women’s shelter with nearly $750,000 in aid from the US military in Kyrgyzstan has never been used for its intended purpose. The disconnect between the project’s mission and its outcomes, plus its exorbitant cost, is casting doubt on the judiciousness of the Pentagon’s aid spending in the beleaguered Central Asian country.
