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Uzbekistan’s draft state budget for 2027 allocates 175.7 trillion soums to education and healthcare combined, according to figures presented at a government meeting chaired by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on the priorities of fiscal policy for the coming year.
Education is set to receive 114.3 trillion soums, an increase of 14 trillion soums on the previous year’s allocation. Healthcare spending is planned at 61.4 trillion soums, up 12 trillion soums. Officials said the social orientation of the state budget would be maintained in 2027.
A further 70 trillion soums has been earmarked for regional and mahalla infrastructure, employment and income support, human capital development and social protection — a broad envelope that sits alongside the two headline social sectors.
The overall budget framework presented at the meeting sets total expenditure at 464 trillion soums against projected revenues of 416 trillion soums, implying a fiscal deficit that officials said would be held within 3 percent of GDP. Inflation is targeted at no more than 6 percent.
Revenue strategy: base-broadening over rate rises
Core tax rates are to remain unchanged. Instead, the government intends to grow revenues by stimulating economic activity, widening the tax base, reducing the shadow economy and improving tax and customs administration. Digital tools and artificial intelligence are to be deployed more extensively to that end, alongside measures intended to create more transparent conditions for businesses.
Controls on construction spending
Mirziyoyev directed that a digital monitoring system be introduced on a pilot basis to track budget expenditure on construction projects within the state investment programme end-to-end. The instruction reflects a broader emphasis on eliminating inefficient spending rather than simply increasing allocations.
The meeting also examined new mechanisms for financing economic growth, including greater private-sector participation in the banking system, expanded credit resources, public-private partnership instruments and closer engagement with international financial institutions.
Under Uzbek law, the draft budget must now be discussed in local Kengashes — regional and district councils — before being submitted to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis, the lower house of parliament.