ASHGABAT: The growth of Turkmenistan's gross domestic product (GDP) accelerated to 10.3 percent year-on-year in January-May from a 9.2 percent rise in the same period of 2013, state media on Saturday quoted President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov as saying.
The Central Asian nation of 5.5 million holds the world's fourth-largest reserves of natural gas, and its fast economic growth is driven largely by rising exports of the fuel to China.
The International Monetary Fund forecasts Turkmenistan's GDP to expand by 10.7 percent this year after a 10.2 percent rise in 2013.
Berdymukhamedov, who enjoys a personality cult and wields sweeping powers, remains the main source of economic statistics in the reclusive desert nation.
Without publishing figures for actual volumes, state media reported on Saturday that the country's output of natural gas grew by 10.3 percent in the first five months of this year, while its exports rose by 11.5 percent in the same period.
A Turkmenistan government source told Reuters last month that the country plans to boost natural gas output to 75 billion cubic metres (bcm) this year from 70 bacm in 2013. Gas exports are set to rise to 45 bcm in 2014 from 40 bcm last year.
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