Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — First Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance Ilkhom Norkulov, in an interview with the Uzbekistan 24 TV channel, provided details on the measures discussed at the August 11 meeting chaired by the president, which focused on reducing the shadow economy.

According to Norkulov, the proposals were developed taking into account analytical materials from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, reports by Big Four firms including Ernst & Young, and research conducted under a UNDP project. Based on this data and field studies in the regions, initiatives were formulated in five key areas.

One of the main decisions was to instruct the National Statistics Committee to improve the methodology for assessing the shadow and informal economy and to designate it as the primary authority responsible for this process.

The second major area concerns motivating taxpayers. Norkulov noted that the president stressed the need to create incentive systems that make tax payment beneficial.

In particular, a rating system will be introduced for neighborhoods (mahallas) with the highest share of taxpayers. Previously, projects under the Open Budget program were selected through voting, but now an additional coefficient will be introduced to increase the chances for active taxpayers. The top 100 mahallas in this ranking will be eligible to receive up to 2 billion soums from the budget for infrastructure development.

In addition, residents of such mahallas who pay their taxes in good faith will be given priority access to preferential mortgage loans and educational credits.