Uzbekistan's Ministry of Economy and Finance raised its 2026 full-year growth forecast from 6.6% to 8.1% on July 22, after the presidential press office reported 8.5% year-on-year GDP expansion in the first half of the year; President Shavkat Mirziyoyev told officials that growth must reach 9-10% annually to meaningfully improve living standards for the country's 40 million people