OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Telenor, a Norwegian telecoms firm, said it is ready to sell its stake in Vimpelcom, a Russian company that also operates in Central Asia under the Beeline brand (Oct. 5). Vimpelcom is under investigation in the US and in the Netherlands for allegedly paying a bribe to enter the Uzbek market.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Banks in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are bracing themselves for tough times ahead. The currency crisis that has hit the region has, it feels, still a long way to run. Central Banks in both countries have pledged to help commercial banks in the short term to prevent falls in the values of the tenge and som from spiraling into panic and a run on the banks.
This is sensible.
The Kazakh Central Bank said it would compensate savings accounts in tenge that have so far lost 46% in US dollar terms after the regulator moved to a free-float policy. Across the border, in Bishkek, the Central Bank laid out new measures to help customers pay their dollar- denominated mortgages, which have become more expensive as the som lost value.
When people lose confidence in their currency, as is happening across Central Asia and the South
Caucasus, Central Banks intervene. In both countries, new policies were adopted to limit the amount of loans in foreign currencies, to ensure stability in the market.
These short-term measures, however, may have serious repercussions down the road. Bailouts can have an adverse effect on these countries’ sovereign ratings and they could, in any case, be insufficient to reverse the economic downturn.
Let’s see how these policies fair against a falling currency market.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 6 2015, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia said it will station attack helicopters at its base in Tajikistan, a strong sign the Kremlin believes the threat from the Taliban in Afghanistan to Central Asia is heightening.
A Russian Defence Ministry spokesman said Mi-24P gunships, heavily used during the Soviet Union’s war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and Mi-8 MTV transport-combat helicopters will be stationed at the Ayni airbase, 30km outside Dushanbe.
Over the past week, the Taliban and US-backed forces belonging to the Afghan central government have been fighting for control of Kunduz on the Tajik-Afghan border. And this has worried Central Asian governments throughout the year.
A Dushanbe-based analyst who wished not to be named said: “The occupation of Kunduz by the Taliban has shaken Dushanbe. Tajik authorities know that they cannot handle any threat, be it domestic or external, without the help of Russia. For Rakhmon, the Kremlin is the guarantee of stability in Tajikistan.”
Tajik President Emmomli Rakhmon had been in Moscow the day before the Kremlin said it would send attack helicopters to Tajikistan.
And most people in Dushanbe welcomed Moscow’s help. Olim Shirinov, a Dushanbe resident, said: “Every new unit of Russian military equipment on Tajik soil is one more brick in the wall that guarantees stability in the country.”
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian government approved a second draft of a new tax code that it hopes will pull in extra revenue and cut its deficit. At its core, media reported that the tax code will target closing tax benefits.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — NORINCO International, a Chinese engineering contractor, will build a coal-fired power plant in the Basht district, about 100km to the east of Dushanbe, helping the country increase its power generation capacity. The new plant will have a 350MW capacity. TBEA, another Chinese company, is currently building a similar power plant in Dushanbe, highlighting China’s growing role in Tajikistan.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 2-8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Kazakh tenge lost 1.5% of its value over the past week, ending at 274/$1.
Much of this perceived strength appears to lie with the Central Bank’s little secret — intervention. Despite promising never to intervene in the currency again, the Kazakh Central Bank has spent another $367.5m this week propping up its currency.
Over the border in Kyrgyzstan, the som crept briefly over 69/$1 on Oct. 6, before settling back to 68.9 in a week that saw little of the violent fluctuations of previous episodes. The Kyrgyz Central Bank also intervened in the market, selling $10.2m.
No doubt the successful and peace- ful parliamentary elections would have played well to the steady currency markets. European vote monitors were certainly impressed and that is good for Kyrgyzstan’s image.
The Georgian lari was also stable last week at 2.40. Positive economic data and a substantial stability in foreign reserves reassured lari holders.
The Tajik somoni continued its gradual devaluation against the dollar. By marginally weakening every week, the somoni has lost 2.5% of its value against the dollar over the past month.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz Central Bank said remittances from Russia fell by 27% in US dollar terms during the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year. Cash flows from Russia increased by 18% in rouble terms, but a fall in the value of Russia’s currency against the US dollar meant that the real value fell.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 6 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Coal production in Tajikistan grew by 27% in the first nine months of 2015 to 760,000 tonnes, compared to the same period last year, the government said. This is important both for export revenues and also in the run-up to winter when hydro-power slows and energy demand rises.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 7 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) -Tajik authorities arrested Samikhon Kurbonov, the former chairman of Fononbonk, because of his family ties to Saidumar Khusaini, a high- ranking member of the now banned Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). Last week, Tajikistan’s Central Bank also placed Fononbonk under receivership.
ENDS
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(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
OCT. 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The office of the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) said it was concerned of possible human rights violations linked to Tajikistan’s ban on the Islamic Renaissance Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). It said the ban was an attempt to crush dissent.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 251, published on Oct. 9 2015)
