Macroeconomic situation in the country
Despite the tense situation, Kyrgyzstan's borders remained open to the whole world, but not the border with neighboring Kazakhstan, which has important transit and trade partners. This border has been closed for more than a year. Political stability in the country is still very fragile, which has led to a deterioration of the investor market. Since the parliamentary elections at the end of November, the president can form the government on his own initiative and propose candidates to the legislature. Also, as of now, members of the cabinet can only be prosecuted after approval by the president. The spread of the coronavirus seems to be somewhat under control, although the vaccination rate is rather low. GDP grew by about 3.6 % in 2021.
In Q4, the inflation rate decreased from 14.1% to 11.5%. The Kyrgyz som has remained stable against the USD during this period. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forgives Kyrgyzstan loan debts totaling $12 million. To stabilize the som exchange rate, the Central Bank sells foreign exchange reserves worth USD 40.7 million. This is the seventh intervention this year, with USD 311 million used so far to strengthen the country's own currency.
BPN activities on site
The pilot project "Promoting Entrepreneurship" was further developed and young entrepreneurs with a concrete business idea were supported. Of these, 3 participants were accepted into the main BPN program. Regularly, 24 additional entrepreneurs were selected and 153 coaching sessions were held. In addition, 21 seminars/webinars were held with over 400 participants. 96% of the participants rated these as "very good" (85%) or "good" (11%).
The offer was expanded with 2 additional seminars for "Business Ethics" and "Employee Motivation". The new Country Director, Thomas Lauwiner, got off to a good start and has already successfully conducted 2 basic seminars.
