Far-sighted economic reforms in Uzbekistan helped the country to avoid suffering any direct effects of the global economic crisis, an article published by the Uzbek newspaper Khalq Sozi on February 25 claims.

"Our biggest success is that we are not being directly affected by the economic crisis at a time when many countries of the world are suffering from it today. Far-sighted economic reforms being implemented have saved us from the inevitable crisis," the article, written by Maqsud Jonikhonov, says.

The article also quoted a resident of the Uzbek capital as saying that people should be grateful for the stable economic situation in the country. "Manufacturing companies and private firms in our country are operating normally while in other countries the economic crisis is disturbing people''s lives and is even leading to tragedies," the article quotes him as saying, reported Uzreport.

The article also says that giving various names to every new year on the Uzbek president''s initiative and adopting relevant programmes were behind the county''s success. "We believe that similar achievements will be made this year as well," it says.