President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has criticized provincial governors for failing to deliver on their promises to curb inflation, and has ordered a complete review of the meat production and consumption balance in every province by August 1.
At a meeting on July 21 reviewing the results of the first half of the year, the president called inflation the most critical issue for economic stability.
"It's not by chance that I keep repeating it: inflation, and inflation again. Put simply, inflation is an extra tax on low-income families," the president said.
According to him, Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Kuchkarov, Central Bank Chairman Timur Ishmetov, and provincial governors have been instructed to increase the supply of goods and services on the market and to hold down price growth.
In January, provincial leaders had pledged to keep consumer price growth under 3% over the first six months of the year. However, as Mirziyoyev noted, only Sirdaryo province governor Erkinjon Turdimov managed to meet that target.
Consumer prices rose by 3.6% in Samarkand and Kashkadarya provinces, by 3.5% in Khorezm, and by 3.4% in Fergana, Jizzakh, and Navoi provinces.
"Here are your letters, mayors. Couldn't you have done the analysis first and written afterward? Aren't you supposed to lead by example? If this is how we keep inflation in check, what will happen in the market tomorrow? Where will people's wages go? When will people finally be satisfied with us?" the president said.
Particular attention at the meeting was given to rising meat prices. Between April and June, meat prices climbed by roughly 6–8%.
Mirziyoyev said the governors and mayors had requested that the costs of air-freighting imported meat be subsidized through August 1. The president backed the proposal, and 300 billion soums have been allocated for this purpose.
"Can any governor say that he, together with his local entrepreneurs, actually imported meat from abroad? Unfortunately, there is no such positive answer," he said.
The president also pointed to serious discrepancies in livestock statistics. Officials responsible for animal husbandry and provincial leaders had previously operated on the assumption that the country had 14.5 million head of cattle and 24.5 million sheep and goats.
However, an agricultural census showed that the actual cattle population is 2.5 million head lower than previously reported, and the number of sheep and goats is 1.5 million lower.
"Which provincial or district mayor actually took these figures and studied them? Who calculated when and how the shortfall would be made up?" the president asked.
In Kashkadarya province alone, the cattle count came in 171,000 head short and the sheep and goat count 288,000 short of previously reported figures. By the president's estimate, this shortfall in a single province alone will cost the market 50,000 tons of meat and 120 million liters of milk.
Officials in charge, together with provincial governors, have been instructed to completely overhaul the meat balance for each province by August 1. They must determine which countries products will be imported from and in what volumes, draw up a delivery schedule, and begin practical work with entrepreneurs.
The subsidy for air-freighting imported meat will be extended through the end of the year.
In May, 1 trillion soums were allocated from the Agricultural Fund for livestock projects. An additional $50 million will be provided from the Reconstruction and Development Fund.
These funds will be used to issue loans at 10% annual interest: up to 5 billion soums for setting up livestock complexes, and up to 20 billion soums for pedigree cattle-breeding projects. Loan terms will run for 10 years, including a four-year grace period.
By year's end, the target is to import 100,000 head of cattle, along with 150,000 sheep and goats.
In February, Mirziyoyev stated that annual inflation in January had reached 7.2%, with meat products accounting for 13% of the price increase. Amid declining output from smallholder farms and a sharp rise in imports, the president ordered an increase in fodder crop planting and a reduction in dependence on foreign supplies.
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