FEB. 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek immigrants contributed around a third of the remittances sent from Russia between January 2010 and September 2013, media reported quoting Uzbekistan’s Central Bank. The Central Bank data underlines how dependent ordinary people in Uzbekistan are on cash sent home by Uzbeks working in Russia.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s som currency fell sharply in value against the US dollar. A Conway Bulletin correspondent in Bishkek reported that some banks had stopped selling US dollars and that black market traders were selling the Greenback at inflated prices.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Apparently recognising that more needs to be done to encourage private commerce in Uzbekistan, the government is considering introducing a new law on privatisation, media reported. Over the past couple of years, Uzbekistan has privatised a number of state-owned assets.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s parliament has ratified a 370m euro loan from Germany that will be used to improve various infrastructure including drinking water in some rural regions, media reported. Azerbaijan is looking for both financial and technical help in developing its Soviet-era infrastructure.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s external debt grew by 4.4% in 2013 to $3.9b, media quoted the national statistics service as saying. Nearly half of this debt is owed to the World Bank, underling just how dependent Armenia is on international finance organisations.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s GDP grew by nearly 8% in the 12 months to the end of January, the Georgian statistics agency reported. It said a surge in domestic demand at the end of last year had carried over into the start of 2014. Georgia predicts full year GDP growth for 2014 of 5%.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
MARCH 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A new law in Russia means 220,000 Armenian workers will shortly have to return home, cutting remittance flows, media quoted demographic analyst Ruben Yeganyan as saying. From Jan. 1, Russia will allow casual labourers to stay only 90 days in a 180-day period. Remittances from Russia are a vital income for many Armenian families.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 174, published on March 5 2014)
FEB. 20 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — If the Kazakh Central Bank’s decision to devalue the Kazakh tenge by 20% on Feb. 11 came as a nasty surprise, the admission by Kairat Kelimbetov, the Bank’s chief, that he had only learned of the policy shift the night before came as a frightening shock.
Readers left floods of angry comments on news websites on the apparent ineptitude of Mr Kelimbetov.
“If he didn’t know, it means he doesn’t work at all! What an irresponsible (man),” wrote one user.
The Kazakh Central Bank is supposedly in charge of the country’s monetary policy and the constitution enshrines its independence.
And yet here was the Mr Kelimbetov saying that he’d only been informed about a policy change at the last moment. Many suspect that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, in power since 1991, influences monetary policy.
Even so, it was a PR disaster for Mr Kelimbetov, said Eldar Madumarov, an economics professor in Almaty.
“It used to be regarded as the most independent and reliable Central Bank among all post-Soviet countries, including Russia,” he said. “All he’s been saying undermines his credibility.”
The Kazakh President, with approval from the Senate, appoints the Central Bank chief. Mr Kelimbetov took over as head of the Kazakh Central Bank in October last year from Grigory Marchenko, who was considered a steady hand.
Mr Kelimbetov’s reputation appears to be in tatters as Svetlana Dzhalmagambetova, a senator, voiced when she faced him at a Senate hearing on the devaluation.
“We need to know if you lack professionalism or ethics, it’s one of the two,” she said according to reports. “You misled not only the people of Kazakhstan, but also their representatives here in the Parliament.”
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — More employers in Kazakhstan said they would increase workers’ salaries after the 20% devaluation of the tenge this month. Copper producer Kazakhmys and the government of Aktobe region both said they would increase salaries by 10%. The devaluation has stoked fears of inflation.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 173, published on Feb. 26 2014)
FEB. 18 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Betraying ordinary Kazakh’s nervousness and distrust after the devaluation of the tenge on Feb. 11 by 20%, rumours of a banking collapse spread fast via SMS and triggered a run on several banks.
The banks — Bank Tsenter Kredit, Alliance Bank and Kaspii Bank — all denied that they were in danger of collapsing.
At branches of Kaspii Bank, though, hundreds of people still queued throughout Feb. 18 and Feb. 19 to withdraw their savings despite assurances from the Central Bank that there was no reason to panic.
Saltanat was one of roughly 100 people queuing to withdraw their savings from a Kaspii Bank branch in Almaty.
“They said there won’t be any problem, but why should I believe them?” he said. “They said nothing about the devaluation either. They’re not going to take our money away!”
Confidence in Kazakhstan’s banking sector and the tenge is low.
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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 172, published on Feb. 19 2014)
