We expect that adverse spillover effects from the recession in and sanctions imposed on Russia will weigh on Uzbekistan's economic growth and slow the pace of fiscal consolidation this year, given that Russia is Uzbekistan's largest trading partner. In our view, Uzbekistan's contained net general government debt level still affords the authorities fiscal space to mitigate these pressures in the short term while ongoing economic reforms should support growth prospects further on. Nevertheless, Uzbekistan's aggregate external debt--particularly in the public and financial sectors--has steadily risen in recent years and could, in our view, increase its balance-of-payments vulnerabilities if this growth continues unchecked. We affirmed our 'BB-/B' foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Uzbekistan. The outlook is stable. On
