Analysis of Inflation Dynamics in Post-Communist Economies
The Case of Uzbekistan
Copyright (c) 2025 Elyor Davlaton, Csaba Lentner, Judit Sági

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This paper seeks to investigate the short-run and long-run relationship between price level and monetary, non-monetary and external factors of inflation in Uzbekistan, from January 2016 to August 2025. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model is applied to examine the link between money (M), interest rate (R), exchange rate (FX), producer price index (PP), import volume (IM), global food prices and the consumer price index (CPI). The estimates of the bound test found the cointegrating associations among the variables. The alternative Johansen test confirmed the existence of such a long-run relationship. Additionally, M, FX and PP have long-run relationships with the CPI, while the elasticity of the CPI with respect to R and IM is not statistically significant in the long run. The error correction term (ECM) has a value of –0.18, which means that 18% of the deviation is corrected in each month. Moreover, R and FX have a positive and statistically significant effect on the CPI in the short run. Finally, the Toda and Yamamoto causality test established the bidirectional causality between M and the CPI in Uzbekistan.
Keywords:
How to Cite
References
Akimov, A. (2001). Reforming the Financial System. The Case of Uzbekistan. CASE Network Studies and Analyses, (234). Online: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1440250
Al Rasasi, M. & Cabezon, E. (2022). Uzbekistan’s Transition to Inflation Targeting. IMF Working Papers, (229). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400224584.001
Alam, M. Q. & Alam, M. S. (2016). The Determinants of Inflation in India: The Bounds Test Analysis. International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, 6(2), 544–550. Online: https://www. econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/2019
Al-Eyd, A., Amaglobeli, D., Shukurov, B. & Sumlinski, M. (2012). Global Food Price Inflation and Policy Responses in Central Asia. IMF Working Papers, (086). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475502497.001
Alper, A. E., Alper, F. O., Ozayturk, G. & Mike, F. (2023). Testing the Long-run Impact of Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, and Globalization on Ecological Footprint: New Evidence from Fourier Bootstrap ARDL and Fourier Bootstrap Toda–Yamamoto Test Results. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30, 42873–42888. Online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-18610-7
Asandului, M., Lupu, D., Maha, L. G. & Viorică, D. (2021). The Asymmetric Effects of Fiscal Policy on Inflation and Economic Activity in Post-Communist European Countries. Post-Communist Economies, 33(7), 899–919. Online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2020.1867430
Atamanchuk, M., Hajdenberg, A., Kadissi, D., Lisi, G. & Rao, N. H. (2025). Drivers of Inflation in the Caucasus and Central Asia. IMF Working Papers, (003). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400296031.001
Baba, C. & Lee, J. (2022). Second-Round Effects of Oil Price Shocks: Implications for Europe’s Inflation Outlook. IMF Working Papers, (173). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400219351.001
Ball, L. & Mankiw, N. G. (1995). Relative-Price Changes as Aggregate Supply Shocks. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110(1), 161–193. Online: https://doi.org/10.2307/2118514
Baranov, A. O. & Somova, I. A. (2015). Analysis of Main Factors of Inflation Dynamics in Post-Soviet Russia. Studies on Russian Economic Development, 26, 110–123. Online: https://doi.org/10.1134/s1075700715020021
Boymirzaev, T. (2025). Development of the Near-Term Forecast of Inflation for Uzbekistan: Application of FAVAR and BVAR models. Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies Working Paper, (HEIDWP06-2025). Online: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/312925
Catao, L. A. & Terrones, M. E. (2005). Fiscal Deficits and Inflation. Journal of Monetary Economics, 52(3), 529–554. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmoneco.2004.06.003
CBU (2024). Inflation Dynamics and Sources of Inflation. Central Bank of Uzbekistan. Online: https://cbu.uz/en/monetary-policy/annual-inflation/
Daly, H., Abdulrahman, B. M. A., Ahmed, S. A. K., Abdallah, A. E. Y., Elkarim, S. H. E. H., Sahal, M. S. G., Nureldeen, W., Mobarak, W. & Elshaabany, M. M. (2024). The Dynamic Relationships between Oil Products Consumption and Economic Growth in Saudi Arabia: Using ARDL Cointegration and Toda–Yamamoto Granger Causality Analysis. Energy Strategy Reviews, 54. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2024.101470
Deka, A. & Dube, S. (2021). Analyzing the Causal Relationship between Exchange Rate, Renewable Energy and Inflation of Mexico (1990–2019) with ARDL Bounds Test Approach. Renewable Energy Focus, 37, 78–83. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ref.2021.04.001
Engle, R. F. & Granger, C. W. (1987). Co-Integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation, and Testing. Econometrica, 55(2), 251–276. Online: https://doi.org/10.2307/1913236
Friedman, M. (1970). The Counter-Revolution in Monetary Theory. Institute of Economic Affairs. Online: https://miltonfriedman.hoover.org/internal/media/dispatcher/214480/full
Friedman, M. & Schwartz, A. J. (1963). A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960. Princeton University Press. Online: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400829330
Gali, J. & Gertler, M. (1999). Inflation Dynamics: A Structural Econometric Analysis. Journal of Monetary Economics, 44(2), 195–222. Online: https://doi.org/10.3386/w7551
Ghosh, A. R. (1997). Inflation in Transition Economies: How Much? and Why? IMF Working Papers, (080). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451955569.001
Gordon, R. J. (2018). Friedman and Phelps on the Phillips Curve Viewed from a Half Century’s Perspective. Review of Keynesian Economics, 6(4), 425–436. Online: https://doi.org/10.4337/roke.2018.04.03
Hoggarth, G. (1996). Monetary Policy in Russia. In J. Rautava (Ed.), Russia’s Financial Markets and the Banking Sector in Transition (pp. 53–82). Bank of Finland.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) (2024). Republic of Uzbekistan: 2024 Article IV Consultation – Press
Release; and Staff Report. IMF Staff Country Reports, (210). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9798400281686.002
Isakova, A. (2010). Monetary Policy, Inflation and Dollarization in the Economies of Central Asia. PhD dissertation. Charles University Prague. Online: https://www.cerge-ei.cz/pdf/dissertations/2010-isakova.pdf
Johansen, S. (1988). Statistical Analysis of Cointegration Vectors. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 12(2–3), 231–254. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-1889(88)90041-3
Kamber, G. & Wong, B. (2020). Global Factors and Trend Inflation. Journal of International Economics, 122. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2019.103265
Koen, V. & Marrese, M. (1995). Stabilization and Structural Change in Russia, 1992–1994. IMF Working Papers, (13). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451842951.001
Korhonen, I. (1998). A Vector Error Correction Model for Prices, Money, Output and Interest Rate in Russia. Review of Economies in Transition, (5), 33–44. Online: https://publications.bof.fi/handle/10024/45336
Kuma, B. & Gata, G. (2023). Factors Affecting Food Price Inflation in Ethiopia: An Autoregressive Distributed Lag Approach. Journal of Agriculture and Food Research, 12. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2023.100548
Lim, M. G. & Papi, M. L. (1997). An Econometric Analysis of the Determinants of Inflation in Turkey. IMF Working Papers, (170). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451858389.001
Lissovolik, M. B. (2003). Determinants of Inflation in a Transition Economy: The Case of Ukraine. IMF Working Papers, (126). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451854923.001
Malec, K., Maitah, M., Rojik, S., Aragaw, A. & Fulnečková, P. R. (2024). Inflation, Exchange Rate, and Economic Growth in Ethiopia: A Time Series Analysis. International Review of Economics & Finance, 96. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iref.2024.103561
Masso, J. & Staehr, K. (2005). Inflation Dynamics and Nominal Adjustment in the Baltic States. Research in International Business and Finance, 19(2), 281–303. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2004.12.006
Mihajlović, V. & Marjanović, G. (2020). Asymmetries in Effects of Domestic Inflation Drivers in the Baltic States: A Phillips Curve-based Nonlinear ARDL Approach. Baltic Journal of Economics, 20(1), 94–116. Online: https://doi.org/10.1080/1406099X.2020.1770946
Mishkin, F. S. (1995). Symposium on the Monetary Transmission Mechanism. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(4), 3–10. Online: https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.9.4.3
Mohanty, M. S. & Klau, M. (2001). What Determines Inflation in Emerging Market Economies? In Bank for International Settlements (Ed.), Modelling Aspects of the Inflation Process and the Monetary Transmission Mechanism in Emerging Market Countries (pp. 1–38). Vol. 8. Bank for International Settlements.
Nikolić, M. (2000). Money Growth–Inflation Relationship in Postcommunist Russia. Journal of Comparative Economics, 28(1), 108–133. Online: https://doi.org/10.1006/jcec.1999.1629
Pesaran, M. H., Shin, Y. & Smith, R. J. (2001). Bounds Testing Approaches to the Analysis of Level Relationships. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 16(3), 289–326. Online: https://doi.org/10.1002/jae.616
Phillips, A. W. (1958). The Relation between Unemployment and the Rate of Change of Money Wage Rates in the United Kingdom, 1861–1957. Economica, 25(100), 283–299. Online: https://doi.org/10.2307/2550759
Ranaweera, T. (2003). Market Disequilibria and Inflation in Uzbekistan, 1994–2000. Policy Research Working Papers, 3144. Online: https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/3144.html
Rosenberg, C. B. & Zeeuw, M. D. (2001). Welfare Effects of Uzbekistan’s Foreign Exchange Regime. IMF Staff Papers, 48(1), 160–178. Online: https://doi.org/10.2307/4621663
Rozenov, R. (2017). Exchange Rate Pass-Through in Kazakhstan: Empirical Findings and Implications for Inflation Targeting. IMF Staff Country Reports, (109). Online: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475598759.002
Ruziev, K. & Midmore, P. (2014). Informal Credit Institutions in Transition Countries: A Study of Urban Money Lenders in Post-Communist Uzbekistan. Post-Communist Economies, 26(3), 415–435. Online: https://doi.org/10.1080/14631377.2014.937107
Sankaran, A., Kumar, S., Arjun, K. & Das, M. (2019). Estimating the Causal Relationship between Electricity Consumption and Industrial Output: ARDL Bounds and Toda–Yamamoto Approaches for Ten Late Industrialized Countries. Heliyon, 5(6). Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e01904
Siliverstovs, B. & Bilan, O. (2005). Modeling Inflation Dynamics in Transition Economies: The Case of Ukraine. Eastern European Economics, 43(6), 66–81. Online: https://doi.org/10.2753/eee0012-8755430604
Toda, H. Y. & Yamamoto, T. (1995). Statistical Inference in Vector Autoregressions with Possibly Integrated Processes. Journal of Econometrics, 66(1–2), 225–250. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(94)01616-8
Valogo, M. K., Duodu, E., Yusif, H. & Baidoo, S. T. (2023). Effect of Exchange Rate on Inflation in the Inflation Targeting Framework: Is the Threshold Level Relevant? Research in Globalization, 6. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resglo.2023.100119
World Bank (2024). GDP per capita (current US$) – Uzbekistan. Online: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=UZ
Wolde-Rufael, Y. (2010). Bounds Test Approach to Cointegration and Causality between Nuclear Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in India. Energy Policy, 38(1), 52–58. Online: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2009.08.053
Zainidinov, M. (2021). How Much Does Fiscal Policy Contribute to Explaining Inflation in Kyrgyzstan? MA thesis. Central European University.
Project No. TKP2021-NVA-16 has been implemented with the support provided by the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary from the National Research, Development and Innovation Fund, financed under the TKP2021-NVA funding scheme. This study was conducted at the Széll Kálmán Public Finance Lab of the Ludovika University of Public Service.