Economic and Geographical Genesis of Poverty in Tajikistan: Potential for Economic Growth While Maintaining Social Disparities

The problem of poverty in Tajikistan, despite attempts to solve it, remains relevant today. Progress in this matter is certainly noticeable, but the decisions made in terms of social policy are of questionable effectiveness and are aimed more at reducing the level of poverty on paper than at identifying and eliminating its causes. In this regard, it is extremely important to determine the real reasons for the persistence of poverty in the country, to understand whether it is systemic and what is the influence of the geographical factor on it. Based on this, the purpose of the study is to analyze the reasons for the persistence of poverty and prove the hypothesis that the key factors in the persistence of poverty are social disparities and the economic and geographical position of the country. To achieve this goal, a number of tasks have been solved, in particular, it has been proven that economic growth in the country does not affect the level of poverty, the following main factors for the persistence of poverty have been identified: economic inequality, low quality of education and lack of qualified specialists in the domestic market, population growth, low share industrial sector in the economy, high dependence on labor exports and the dynamics of development of the main market for this export, i.e. Russia. In addition, it was revealed that Tajikistan is characterized by a peripheral economic and geographical location and factors exogenous to its economy cannot have a serious impact on poverty. Based on the results obtained in the process of solving problems, recommendations have been developed for changing the objectives of the country’s economic development from achieving economic growth to social development.