Tag Archives: economy

Armenian fruit firms sign deal with the UAE

MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two fruit and vegetable companies in Armenia have signed supply deals with six luxury hotels in the UAE, media reported. The Armenian companies, Tamara Fruit and Natural Organic Healthy Food Company, signed the deals earlier in March at a UAE-Armenia trade meeting in the Dubai. This sort of deal is important for Armenia which is looking to boost its exports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Rates kept steady, prices rise in Armenia

Leave a Reply

APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6% because inflation was rebounding (March 28). It said that for the 12 months to the end of March inflation measured minus 0.2% but that it was confident that this would rise to plus 4% by the end of the year. The impact of a recent economic slowdown on Armenia has been to push prices down. In an interview with Reuters, Central Bank chief Arthur Javadyan said that it would simply be too risky for the Central Bank to cut interest rates any further. In August 2015, Armenia’s key interest rate had measured 10.5%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Economic activity picks up in Armenia but deflation lingers

Leave a Reply

YEREVAN, MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economic activity barometer, considered to be a key indicator of future growth, increased by 6.2% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2016, the National Statistics Agency said (March 20).

The data comes at just the right time for the ruling Republican Party which is looking to increase it support among voters ahead of a parliamentary election on April 2.

The growth in economic activity, though, was uneven. The growth came in industry and services. Agri- culture was stagnant and the important construction sector fell by 13.8%.

Armenia’s economy has been limping along since 2015 and deflationary pressure has become a major concern for policy makers. Over January and February, the statistics agency said that deflation had measured 0.4%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Remittances in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan fall, in general

Leave a Reply

MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Remittances to Central Asia from Russia, a vital engine for economies in the region, fell in 2016 compared to 2015, data from the Russian Central Bank showed. Uzbeks working in Russia sent back $2.74b in 2016, down from $3b in 2015 and Tajiks sent back $1.9b compared to $2.2b the year before. Kyrgyzstan actually increased its remittances from Russia to $1.7b in 2016 from $1.5b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Kazakhstan says wants to build its own regional Ease of Doing Business index

Leave a Reply

ALMATY, MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to ape the World Bank’s global ‘Ease of Doing Business’ survey, Kazakh officials said they wanted to set up a regional version covering all of Kazakhstan.

The survey will measure how difficult, or easy, Kazakh and foreign companies find it to do business in Kazakhstan’s regions, providing data for investors and the government.

Serzhan Madiyev, head of the state-linked Economic Research Institute said that the index had been ordered by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“We provide recommendations to the government on what needs to be done to raise the position in this rating every year,” he told the state- owned Astana Times newspaper. “It

is very important for attracting foreign investments.”

Kazakhstan has been looking to attract more investors, and its ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking by the World Bank has improved. In 2017, it was ranked in 35th position. The World Bank survey, though, doesn’t measure corruption, one of the main grudges that foreign investors have.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Armenian president signs deals with UAE

Leave a Reply

MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to boost investment from the UAE, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan travelled to Dubai to sign various deals. The most significant deal was a visa waiver between Armenia and the UAE. Media reports of Mr Sargsyan’s visit to the UAE said that discussions had focused on expanding bilateral relations, especially in tourism, agriculture and water management.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Uzbek authorities crackdown on money changers

Leave a Reply

MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan are trying to crackdown on Black Market money changers, the Eurasianet website reported. It described a raid by both undercover and uniformed police on money changers outside a major Tashkent supermarket. Under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in power since September, the Uzbek authorities have managed a careful devaluation of the som currency. The crackdown on the once thriving som Black Market, appears designed to coincide with this devaluation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Azerbaijani economy will grow, says Fitch

Leave a Reply

MARCH 16 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fitch, the ratings agency, said that the Azerbaijani economy was likely to pick up this year after contracting by 3.8% in 2016. In an interview with Reuters, Paul Gamble, head of Fitch’s emerging Europe department said that the economy would grow by 0.2% this year and 1.7% in 2018. Earlier this month, the Asian Development Bank said that Azerbaijan’s economy would shrink again this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

IMF says needs to develop private sector in Turkmenistan

Leave a Reply

MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The IMF concluded a working visit to Turkmenistan by calling on the government to do more to develop the private sector. It also said that Turkmenistan needed to reduce the size of its external debt and that the economy was still struggling to deal with the fall in gas prices. Accurate economic data on Turkmenistan is tough to source but anecdotal evidence suggests the economy is struggling.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

ABD demands reforms from Tajikistan

Leave a Reply

MARCH 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has linked another $50m loan to Tajikistan to reforms that it said the government needs to make to 14 areas to improve economic conditions, mainly focused on protecting businesses from tax inspections and official pressure, media reported. Tajikistan’s economy is under pressure from a recession in Russia and it has been looking for handouts from international lenders.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)