Kyrgyz Labour Market in the Late 1990s: The Challenge of Formal Job Creation

The persistence of widespread poverty in the Kyrgyz Republic seems to be due to the presence of a large pool of jobless and discouraged workers, as well as to the low level of formal job creation. This has prevented informal jobholders from moving from a situation of mere survival into a better economic position. Addressing the problem of low formal job creation requires removing the many institutional barriers that prevent the development of small and medium enterprises in the country.