6.4% GDP growth of Turkmenistan proves successful transition of economy to non-hydrocarbon revenues
GDP growth in Turkmenistan for the first half of 2017 has shown growth and currently stands at 6.4%, indicating successful transition to non-hydrocarbon revenues. In particular, it’s worth pointing out the promising GDP growth rates in such sectors of the Turkmen economy as the transport and communications (10.9% up), trade sector (9.4% up) and service sector (growth by 10.3%). Despite the persistent instability of the world market, induced by oil prices decline, Turkmenistan's economy is growing at a fairly steady pace. At the same time, transport and communication sector, trade and services sector are some kind of driving factors that determine the healthy state of the economy. For example, high growth rates of the service sector indicate the advance of purchasing power of the population. The trend of GDP growth in Turkmenistan is recognized by such major international financial institutions as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and Asian Development Bank. According to IMF estimates, in 2017 the country's GDP will grow by 6.5%. At the same time, real non-hydrocarbon GDP will increase by 7.4%. For the first half of 2017, the transport and communication complex provided cargo and passenger transportation services worth over 2.3 billion manat. In accordance with the state policy on the transformation of Turkmenistan into a transport and logistics center of international importance, the country is systematically upgrading the internal railways, including bridges and transitions, and the air fleet is being renewed and expanded. For the first half of 2017, the growth rate for the performed services and works by Ministry of Road Transport amounted to 100%, Ministry of Communications - 102%, Service “Turkmenhovayollary” - 120%, the State Service of Sea and River Transport - 104%. The growth of freight turnover by the Ministry of Railway Transport reached 100.4%, passenger turnover - 100.2%. In the trade sector for the period from January to June 2017, stable growth rates were observed. Thus, according to the Ministry of Trade and Foreign Economic Relations of Turkmenistan, the total turnover exceeded 2.2 billion manat. Investments in the amount of 42.7 million manat were mastered and the plan was performed by 124.4 %. These indicators prove the progress in implementation of domestic production intensification and import substitution policies. As Turkmenistan gathers the capacity for export promotion and import substitution, the non-hydrocarbon sector is the engine of growth for the GDP.
