A round table was held in Ashgabat, organized by the newspaper “Turkmenistan,” where representatives of the parliament and the Ministry of Finance and Economy discussed the details of the state budget for the upcoming year. The Chairman of the Committee on Economic Issues of the Parliament of Turkmenistan, the Head of the State Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, as well as the Head of the State Macroeconomic Policy Department of the Ministry shared the main aspects of the country’s financial plan. Here are some key facts and figures:
Overall Budget Size: Revenues and Expenditures
The State Budget of Turkmenistan for 2026 provides for a volume of revenues and expenditures in the amount of 131.8 billion manats. The budget of the first level (central budget) amounts to 36.5 billion manats.
Revenues will be formed from taxes, mandatory payments, privatization revenues, and part of the profits from the state sector of the economy, including growth in the production of goods and services.
Key tasks in budget management will include saving expenditures, reducing costs, strict control over the targeted use of funds, and ensuring full transparency of operations. Special attention is paid to protected expenditure items: wages, pensions, state benefits, and scholarships, which are not subject to reduction even in the case of adjustments.
Distribution of Expenditures: Focus on the Social Sphere
More than 77.1% of budget funds — that is 26.8 billion manats — is allocated to the social sphere, emphasizing the priority of human capital. The distribution within this category is as follows: 37.5% of funds will be directed to financing education, 13.2% to healthcare, 2.8% to culture, 37.4% to the social security system, and 9.1% to housing and communal services.
Support for provinces and cities
From the overall budget, 15.5 billion manats will be allocated for local budgets of provinces, as well as the cities of Ashgabat and Arkadag.
The large-scale works on infrastructure modernization are envisaged in Ashgabat and its districts. They include construction of educational, medical, cultural, and sports facilities, as well as residential buildings. Special attention is given to the city of Arkadag: within the framework of the “Concept for the Development of the City of Arkadag for 2024–2052,” significant funds will be allocated for the second stage of the “Smart City.” The projects include the construction of general education schools, kindergartens, a medical center, a trade and service complex, a fire station, an administrative building of the governorate, the “Health” park, multi-apartment buildings, as well as infrastructure — water supply systems, gas pipelines, power grids, communications, and highways.
In the provinces, according to the Investment Program for 2026, the emphasis is on the construction of social infrastructure: schools, kindergartens, hospitals, cultural centers, communication and transport facilities, public institutions, highways, bridges, power and gas pipelines, water treatment facilities, and sewer networks.
Investment Program
Turkmenistan plans to invest 41.2 billion manats in the implementation of the Investment Program for 2026. Of these, 68.5% will go to the construction of production capacities, and 31.5% to non-production facilities. The goals of the investment policy include attracting capital to key sectors, innovations, production with high added value, human capital development, and ensuring environmental and socio-economic security.
The program covers the development of industrial sectors, the creation of innovative joint ventures, the formation of export-oriented and import-substituting production, agrarian reforms to improve food security, conservation of water resources, diversification of the oil and gas sector, and job creation.
Economic Policy
The economic policy for 2026 is focused on maintaining high growth rates. It is expected that Turkmenistan’s GDP in comparable prices will grow by 6.3%, provided a stable geopolitical situation in the region.
Priority directions include:
- Support for economic growth;
- Ensuring macroeconomic stability through strengthening the role of the private sector and effective regulation;
- Diversification of the economy, reducing dependence on raw materials, and increasing processing enterprises;
- Creation of new productions and jobs;
- Increasing the level of industrialization with the implementation of reforms;
- Introduction of advanced methods of sustainable production in economic sectors using environmentally friendly, innovative technologies, modern equipment, increasing volumes, and expanding the range of produced products;
- Modernization and digitalization of agriculture, reducing non-production costs in agriculture, increasing productivity and yield in the sector;
- Increasing investments, including human capital development;
- Continuation of the implementation of urban development and housing construction programs, development of transport and transit routes passing through the territory of Turkmenistan;
- Strengthening public-private partnerships, support for small and medium-sized businesses, and increasing resilience to external shocks.
Tax Aspects
The first-level budget for revenues and expenditures will total 36.5 billion manats. The share of profit tax in the total revenues will be 16.9%, VAT — 14.7%, excise tax — 5.7%, tax on subsoil use — 4.2%, property tax — 3.4%, taxes from the population — 11.4%, pension contributions — 16.6%, other taxes and payments — 27.1%. ///nCa, 8 January 2026