Government expenditure was 49 percent of GDP in 1994. Government monopolies have been reduced to only nine natural resources. With the exception of grain, some 45 percent of total production of major agricultural products and livestock was contributed by small-scale private farms or household plots. Women are well represented in the work force, professions, and institutions of higher education, though in rural areas traditions limit women's progress. Non-Kyrgyz have alleged discrimination in hiring, promotion, and housing, though the constitution protects the rights and freedoms of ethnic groups and prohibits discrimination.
Women can hold and transfer property.
The legal system and judiciary remain weak in the area of providing mechanisms, procedures and laws related to business rights and practices. Organized crime and corruption are a serious problem. Foreign businessmen have been murdered or intimidated. The president himself has acknowledged that corruption and bribe-taking have hampered greater foreign investment. Freedom House Survey of Economic Freedom 1995-96.