Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - On 17 November 2020, a meeting of the Senate Committee of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on budget and economic reforms was held in the form of video conferencing.

The meeting preliminarily discussed issues to be considered at the ninth plenary session of the upper house of parliament.

During the meeting, which was attended by members of the Senate, representatives of ministries and departments, experts and media workers, the Law of the Republic of Uzbekistan “On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in connection with the measures taken to mitigate the negative impact on sectors of the economy of the coronavirus pandemic and global crisis phenomena” was discussed.

It was noted that this document introduces changes and additions to the Law "On the State Budget of the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2020" and the Tax Code.

In particular, the amendments to the Law envisages the preservation of the rates of certain types of excise tax until the end of this year in order to prevent price increases.

It is also planned to reduce the tax rates for the use of water for irrigation of agricultural land and fish farming by 50%.

At the same time, on the basis of measures taken by decrees and resolutions of the President for the development of the economy, a number of amendments are being made to the Tax Code, providing for:

provision of benefits for certain taxes and fees established by law, as well as changes in tax rates, extension of payment deadlines;

deferral, payment by installments or extension of the deadline for the payment of taxes, fines and penalties;

suspension of enforcement measures.

In addition, at the meeting, the discussion was also focused on the report of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the progress of the implementation of the State Program for the implementation of the Action Strategy in the "Year of Science, Education and the Digital Economy" for nine months of 2020.

If we focus on the economic direction, then, according to preliminary calculations, in January-September this year, GDP growth is expected by 0.3-0.5%.

In accordance with the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 30 July 2020, on the eve of the Eid al-Adha holiday, 154 billion soums of material assistance were allocated in order to provide material support for low-income, socially vulnerable and needy families included in the "iron notebook" , in August - 260 billion soums of one-time financial assistance, 141 billion soums of payments of one-time remuneration for more than 41 thousand workers of ambulance brigades.

One-time aid payments were made to each child of 500 thousand soums, a total of 422 billion soums - more than 845 thousand children under the age of 16 from families in need of material assistance and support, included in the "iron notebook", and children under the age of 16 from families receiving disability pensions or benefits.

About 2 trillion soums was allocated for the construction, reconstruction and overhaul of social and infrastructure facilities, 824 billion soums, for social support of the population - 1 trillion 211 billion soums.

An appropriate decision of the Committee was made on the issues considered.