ASHGABAT (TCA) — Due to a shortage of funds in the budgets of public sector organizations in Turkmenistan’s capital Ashgabat, administrations of the state-run agencies have downsized the number of employees to a minimum and urged the remaining staff to take unpaid leaves, the independent foreign-based news website Chronicles of Turkmenistan reports.
Employees have been forced to sign applications for unpaid leaves for a period of several weeks to several months.
Forcing staff to take a leave without pay has become rampant in Ashgabat and it has virtually become a latent form of unemployment.
The Ashgabat municipal passenger transport company is the exception as its staff are unable to go even on paid holidays they are entitled to by the law due to a shortage of drivers.
Turkmenistan’s economy is currently facing an economic crisis largely due to decreasing foreign-currency revenues from natural-gas exports.
In the meantime, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission which visited Ashgabat during February 19–March 6 said that the economy of Turkmenistan continues to adjust to a challenging—although improving—external environment, with officially-reported growth of 6.5 percent last year, supported by rising natural gas exports, import substitution, and expansionary credit policies.
“The recent reduction in public investments as a share of the economy is welcome. However, given the size of the external deficit, additional measures should be considered, including exchange rate correction and further fiscal and monetary tightening. Easing foreign exchange regulations on imports and other current international payments would be highly desirable. The pace and composition of policy adjustment should be designed to reduce the adverse impact on economic growth and vulnerable segments of the population,” the IMF mission said.
