At the end of the outgoing year and on the eve of resignation, the parliament of the VI convocation adopted the state budget for 2022 in three readings.

There are no special differences from the previous document in the main financial plan of the coming year. Expenditures have traditionally been growing, and the lion's share of the funds is expected to be spent on the social sphere.

According to the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, state treasury spending in 2022 will amount to 212.7 billion, and revenues - 203.6 billion soms.

- Fixed assets will go to the budget, as in previous years, in the form of tax payments - said Finance Minister Almaz Baketayev. - Their fees are planned to be increased by 23, non-tax - by 11.8 percent. 26.6 billion soms are provided for the payment of external debt in 2022. The deficit of the republican budget will be more than nine billion soms, which is 658 million more than the same indicator in 2021. We plan to cover the missing amount from external sources.

In the coming year, according to financial analysts, a slight economic growth can be provided by the service sector, construction and agriculture. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about industry. Despite the commissioning of several large processing enterprises in the republic, it is too early to talk about their profit.

No surprises are expected in terms of macroeconomic indicators. The projected GDP growth in 2022 is expected at 6.5 percent. In the structure of foreign trade turnover, which will amount to nearly $ 6.3 billion, imports prevail. Its share is almost four billion, exports are planned at $ 2.3 billion.

According to the Minister of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic, the main burden when replenishing the state treasury will fall on the shoulders of the fiscal authorities. On January 1, 2022, a new Tax Code came into force in the republic. Many norms of the document continue to cause a negative reaction among representatives of the republican business, but nevertheless, they still have to work in accordance with the code.

Let us recall that, in addition to changes in respect of the payment of mandatory payments, the Tax Service of the Kyrgyz Republic was given new powers, namely the ability to conduct investigative actions against persistent violators of tax legislation, as well as certain operational work. The Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic believes that this can significantly affect the collection of taxes.

During the discussion of the budget, the deputies questioned the forecast of an increase in tax collections. In particular, the people's deputies were worried about how the three-year exemption of farmers from paying the land tax would affect the revenue side of the state treasury.

According to First Deputy Cabinet Minister Arzybek Kozhoshev, 320 million soms were received annually under this item. Now this amount will be transferred from the republican budget to local ones. In addition, they plan to close the gap formed, according to Arzybek Kozhoshev, at the expense of other sources. Specifically what - the government will decide.

But the deputies decided to take a closer look at customs duties. The fact is that the auditors of the Accounts Chamber in the first half of 2021 revealed significant discrepancies in the indicators, and the people's deputies expressed fear that the situation would repeat itself in 2022.

So, for six months of 2021, the Kyrgyz customs showed data on the import from China of 345.4 million tons of cargo in the amount of $ 735 million, while the Chinese side reported 371 million tons worth $ 2.9 billion. The difference is over two billion dollars.

Direct speech

Akylbek Zhaparov, Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers

We expect an increase in revenue due to improved tax administration, digitalization, fiscalization of all processes, introduction of electronic invoices and cash registers. Estimates show that we are heading in the right direction. Putting things in order, bringing business out of the shadows, and reducing the influence of the human factor will make it possible to take a decisive step towards increasing budget revenues in 2022. The Cabinet of Ministers sees how to fulfill the ambitious plan and bring the consolidated budget to 400 billion soms. Everything is going according to plan so far.

bbabo.Net