Tag Archives: economy

Kazakh President unveils economic plan

NOV. 11 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – In a speech to the nation, Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev ordered Kazakhstan’s government to spend more money on infrastructure projects to counter the drag caused by a slowing Russian economy and falling oil prices.

The hastily arranged policy speech caught observers by surprise. Mr Nazarbayev usually waits until his state-of- the-nation speech in January to unveil new policy.

“The tough times for which we prepared ourselves with the National Oil Fund have come. It’s time to use these reserves,” he said during his combative address.

Kazakhstan has amassed a sovereign wealth fund of roughly $77b to counter downturns in commodity prices — the economy is mainly reliant on oil and gas exports — as well as to defend the tenge currency when it is under pressure from a falling rouble.

And Mr Nazarbayev is acutely aware that economic progress is a cornerstone of his popularity.

Mr Nazarbayev pledged to inject $3b every year into Kazakhstan’s economy, during 2015/17. He also said that inter-governmental banks have pledged to match this cash injection.

“The investment from the National Fund must be necessarily accompanied by structural reforms,” he said. “This money will be channelled to develop transport, energy, industrial and social infrastructure.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

IMF says Turkmen growth at 10%

NOV. 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The IMF completed a mission to Turkmenistan and said that economic growth measured between 10% and 11% this year. Importantly the IMF said Turkmenistan was sheltered from the slowdown in neighbouring economies, and in particular Russia, because of its limited exposure to foreign markets.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Tajikistan secures more China funding

NOV. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – On yet another trip to Beijing, Tajik President Emmomali Rakhmon agreed a deal with Chinese PM Li Keqiang to increase China’s investment in energy, transport and agriculture. Although no details of the deal were released it does underline China’s increasingly dominant investor position.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 208, published on Nov.12 2014)

Azerbaijan’s C.Bank warns on excessive consumer borrowing

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s economy is, in general, holding firm despite problems in Russia and falling price of oil. That said, a growing household debt problem is threatening to undermine its relatively good position.

The Central Bank said that in the nine months to the end of September, consumers’ overdue loans had risen by over 22%.

Azerbaijanis are enjoying increasingly easy access to cash, something that international institutions and economists have told the Azerbaijani authorities to tighten up.

Lending but not the checks and balances needed for a sensible lending policy, have grown exponentially over the past two or three years.

In an article for the news site Media forum, the economist Samir Aliyev said that these disparages could cause serious problems for Azerbaijan.

“The share of these (consumer) loans increased by 16.7% in the last nine months,” he said of bank’s loan portfolio. “There has also been a decrease in the assets of the bank.”

This is a bad combination. Azerbaijani banks have been warned time and again to impose tighter controls over lending. If they don’t, the banks may find that they are holding a large proportion of bad consumer debt.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Tajik food imports to rise

NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan will have to increase its imports of grain over the next three years to cover a growing population, a ministry of economic development official told Tajik media. The news will disappoint analysts who had hoped that a gradual rise in grain production would reduce expensive imports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Uzbekistan’s sum drops 20%

OCT. 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan’s sum currency lost 20% of its value over a few days because of the depreciation of the Rouble, Russian media reported quoting a Central Bank official. Economists have warned of a ripple effect across Central Asia from the worsening Russian economy.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Georgian inflation falls

NOV. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Georgia eased to an annual rate of 3.4% in October, down from 4.8% in September, the national statistics office reported. Although other economies in the region are suffering with the downturn in Russia’s economy, Georgia’s is relatively buoyant.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

EU aid still flowing to Armenia

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Although Armenia has agreed to join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union, currently called the Customs Union, in 2015, the EU approved a 140m – 170m euros tranche of aid. The aid will be used to bolster the private sector, the justice sector and reform government institutions.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Kyrgyzstan concerns over EaEU accession

BISHKEK/Kyrgyzstan, NOV 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It would seem to be a done deal. Despite parliamentary opposition from an unlikely cast of nationalists and liberals — as well as serious concerns on the street — Kyrgyzstan appears to be primed to join Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus in the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015.

And, of course, Armenia will accede on the same day.

But accession will be problematic for many Krygyz. The Customs Union, from which the Eurasian Economic Union will emerge, mandates higher tariffs on imports from third countries. China’s share of Kyrgyzstan’s import pie is 55%, dwarfing Russia and Kazakhstan’s combined share of 25%.

Prices for goods from cars to household items will go up significantly. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has ceded that inflation is likely to jump in the short term after joining the Eurasian Economic Union.

Such price hikes would be hard to swallow anywhere; in a poor country like Kyrgyzstan, they will be punitive. Many people in Bishkek are afraid and everyone from taxi drivers to professionals, is quick to share their concerns.

One Bishkek-based foreign national in the NGO sector underscored this analysis. “Many fear that the lifeblood of Kyrgyzstan’s economy, cheap goods ranging from cars to shower curtains to raw materials imported from China, will either stop flowing due to newly-imposed tariffs or will dramatically rise in price,” he said, preferring to remain anonymous.

Of course, Russia and Kyrgyzstan are bound in many ways. As many as 500,000 Kyrgyz citizens work in Russia, and Russian news media is widely watched in Kyrgyzstan.

There are, of course, silver linings to Kyrgyzstan’s accession. Kyrgyz citizens working in other EEU countries will not need to register with the police for stays of less than 90 nights. Currently, a Kyrgyz citizen staying longer than five nights is compelled to register.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)

Cement industry booms in Tajikistan

NOV. 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan produced 1m tonnes of cement for the first time since the breakup of the Soviet Union, media reported. The boost in cement production is thanks to China which has built and operates a new cement plant. China has also paid for a massive infrastructure programme.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 207, published on Nov. 5 2014)