JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Foreign investment in Uzbekistan is again under the spotlight after Russian news agency Regnum quoted the British ambassador in Tashkent, George Edgar, saying that companies were having to quit the country because of various problems with the business environment.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
>>Tajikistan is heavily linked to Russia economy>>
JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan is actively considering applying for membership of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, Belarusian news agency BelTA quoted Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s deputy foreign minister, as saying at a meeting of the Russian parliament.
This is the first major statement this year that Tajikistan still intends to join the trade bloc. It’s also significant because it implies Russia wants Tajikistan in the club.
The Eurasian Economic Union came into existence at the start of the year, replacing the Customs Union. It’s a trade bloc although analysts have said that the Kremlin is looking to use it to promote its own political agenda.
Armenia joined the Eurasian Economic Union on Jan. 1. Kazakhstan and Belarus were already members and Kyrgyzstan is due to join later in the year.
“Tajikistan is also interested and is mulling over the prospects of joining the Eurasian integration processes,” BelTA quoted Mr Nebanzya as saying.
Tajikistan’s economy is closely linked to Russia. It relies on jobs in Russia for its workers, who send back remittances which make up roughly half the country’s GDP.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank increased its refinancing rate, the cost it charges other financial institutions to borrow money, by 1% to 9.5% to slow inflation. In December, the Central Bank increased the refinancing rate to 8.5% from 6.5%. New data showed prices rose 4.6% in December.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
>>New tax code is an effort to stop tax evasion>>
JAN. 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — A new tax code in Armenia is upsetting the very people it is supposed to be helping.
The government has decided to reduce the tax for small business, those earning less than $122,000, to 1% of their sales from 3.5%. The downside of the new law is that the traders and shopkeepers have to document more closely their sales.
Media reported that hundreds of traders demonstrated in front of the parliament building against the new tax laws. Their problem is the introduction of the extra paperwork.
The bottom line is that the government wants to increase tax receipts. To do this it has decided to crackdown on tax evasion and the fiddling of receipts. And this is where the problem lies. The Armenian traders’ will have to fill in more paperwork and, they say, will actually earn less under the new tax code because they will have to declare more of their sales.
The small traders have also complained that they are being used as guinea pigs before the new tax code is rolled out to bigger businesses.
With the Armenian economy reeling from the turmoil in Russia, the government is desperate to highlight good news. It has already had to postpone the introduction of the new tax code from November until Feb. 1. The issue is becoming increasingly contentious.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
>>Stats show increase in wages but illnesses also rise>>
JAN. 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s a double-edged sword living in the west Kazakh region of Mangistau, according to the Kazakh stats office at least.
Mangistau, the main oil producing region of the country, has been enjoying a salary boom that other regions of Kazakhstan can only dream of. Last year the average workers’ salary in Mangistau rose by 22% to over $1,000/month. This is around 50% more than average salaries in other rural areas of the country.
Of course Mangistau’s fortunes are closely linked to the fortunes of the energy industry which has been enjoying something of a boom over the past few years. With falling oil prices, though, that could be about to change.
The stats don’t all show good news, though. Various statistics said Mangistau has the highest rate of several diseases in the country. Some environmentalists have said that people breathe and drink the by-products of uranium mining projects and the decommissioning of the old nuclear power plant in Aktau.
Worker disputes in the region also affect the region. In 2011, the town of Zhanaozen was the centre of clashes between protesters and police. At least 15 people died.
It’s a trade-off then. The salaries may be higher in Mangistau but the work pressures and the health risks are too.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 23 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Nurlan Smagulov, head of the Astana Motors car dealer and an influential businessman, stepped into the debate over the Kazakh tenge. At a press conference, he said policymakers should not devalue the currency for the second time as this would undermine its credibility and knock consumer spending.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 27 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Washington-based Heritage Foundation said that weak rule of law in Kazakhstan had supressed its position in its global rankings on economic freedom. In this year’s ranking, Kazakhstan dropped six places to 69th in the list of 178 countries.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 216, published on Jan. 28 2015)
JAN. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Air Astana CEO Peter Foster
said 2015 would be a tough year because of economic and political
turmoil across the region. His comments highlight the uncertainty
that businesses are facing. Last year, Air Astana increased its
passenger traffic by 3%. Profit rose by 35% from 2013, mainly
because of a drop in oil price.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)
JAN. 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — In new 2015 predictions, the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said
Kazakhstan would grow by 1.5% this year, a sharp drop from the 5.1%
predicted in September. The EBRD downscaled Kazakhstan’s growth
estimates because of ongoing rouble and oil price falls.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)
>>Nazarbayev summons his chief economic lieutenant for talks>>
JAN. 16 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh president Nursultan
Nazarbayev summoned the head of Samruk Kazyna, the country’s
sovereign wealth fund, for crisis talks over the falling price of
oil and the drop in the value of the Russian rouble.
The meeting highlights just how worried Mr Nazarbayev and his
senior ministers are about the recent economic downturn. Most major
financial institutions now expect the Kazakh economy to grow by
only 1.5% this year, a relatively small amount.
When Mr Nazarbayev announced last year a new economic policy, he
aimed to enter the New Year with a Keynesian industrial programme
that would have injected billions into construction projects and
subsidies.
Currency depreciations and oil markets, however, have shattered the
plan.
After his meeting with Mr Nazarbayev, Umirzak Shukeyev, the Samruk
Kazyna chief, said: “The goal is to reduce administrative costs by
20% and investment engagements by 18%.”
This, then, is the opposite of what had been promised.
The most feared buzzwords on the streets from Almaty to Atyrau are
devaluation and austerity. Several consulting and investment firms
have forecast a devaluation in the first quarter. The research
branch of Kazakhstan’s second largest lender, Halyk Bank, told
Bloomberg that they deem a depreciation of the tenge as inevitable.
The leader of the National Business Association, Rakhim Oshakbayev
publicly asked the government to protect private companies from the
risk of devaluation (Jan. 20).
In Kazakhstan, the government is expected to act to reverse the
economic downturn but with no significant increase in hydrocarbon
and commodity output, its only option is to dig into the reserves
of the sovereign fund and hope for the best, or so it often seems.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 215, published on Jan. 21 2015)
