Kyrgyz Republic Sytematic Country Diagnostic : From Vulnerability to Prosperity
The purpose of this Systematic Country Diagnostic is to identify the main constraints and opportunities the Kyrgyz Republic faces in continuing to progress towards the World Bank Group’s twin goals. It analyzes trends and drivers of growth, poverty...
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| Format: | Report |
| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2018
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/516141537548690118/Kyrgyz-Republic-From-Vulnerability-to-Prosperity-Systematic-Country-Diagnostic http://hdl.handle.net/10986/30462 |
| Summary: | The purpose of this Systematic Country
Diagnostic is to identify the main constraints and
opportunities the Kyrgyz Republic faces in continuing to
progress towards the World Bank Group’s twin goals. It
analyzes trends and drivers of growth, poverty reduction,
and income distribution, as well as the policies that
underpin them, while assessing the elements constraining
more rapid progress and sustainability. The main conclusions
of this analysis are as follows: Growth has been driven by
an ad hoc, opportunistic adaptation to constraints; These
adaptations, which included (1) exporting migrant labor,
with remittances fueling growth in domestic consumption and
services; (2) exploiting the gold extracted from one major
mine;1 and (3) leveraging import-re-export bazaar trade,
helped sustain growth, while being far from first-best,
deliberate, and policy-guided long-term solutions. This
‘growth model’ led to significant welfare gains, as it rode
on the back of the commodity super-cycle. But its lack of
coherence in addressing key constraints has implied that
vulnerabilities remain widespread. In short, the country now
needs a new development model to (i) tackle the sources of
low overall productivity—a critical source of sustainable
dynamism—and (ii) unleash private investment and job
creation, given the limited options for public spending and
redistribution. This will require a three-pronged approach
to (1) address cross-cutting constraints to private sector
development, (2) promote conducive policies in areas where
the country has significant unexploited endowments
(especially minerals and hydropower), and (3) foster greater
sustainability, including by maximizing the efficiency of
public policies. This will also require a fundamental
departure from haphazard policy making, whereby macro-fiscal
policies have failed to support greater poverty reduction
and resilience, and weak governance has undermined the
effectiveness of reforms. |
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