Tag Archives: economy

EBRD issues lari bond in Georgia

JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The EBRD said it issued a 107m lari ($50.2m) bond in Georgia, the second lari-denominated public bond issued by the bank. The five-year bond has an initial yield of 6.45% and will be listed on the Georgian Stock Exchange. The EBRD launched its first domestic bond in Georgia in March 2014. The value of the original two-year bond was 50m lari (around $30m at the time).

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

 

Armenians criticise tax revamp

JUNE 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Political and institutional figures have harshly criticised a new tax code that parliament approved last week during the first reading of the bill. Mans Tandilyan, a high-ranking member of the Lusavor Hayastan party, said the new code will negatively affect small and medium businesses. Tigran Jrbashyan, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, warned that, if passed, the law would send Armenia into a recession. The new tax law, approved on June 15, will increase excise taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcohol and increase income tax.

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(News report from Issue No. 286, published on June 24 2016)

 

Kazakhstan’s oil output falls

JUNE 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s oil output fell by 7% to 1.5m barrels/day in April compared to the same period in 2015, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said in a monthly report. Kazakhstan’s Statistics Committee said total oil production shrank by 2.8% in Jan.-May 2016, to 27.7m tonnes, compared to the same period in 2015.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Foreign trade rises in Georgia

JUNE 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Foreign trade turnover grew by 3% in Georgia in Jan.-May 2016 compared to the same period last year, the Statistics Committee said. Importantly, however, the gap between imports and exports grew by 15%, worsening the country’s trade balance. The value of imports increased by 8% to $3.3b. The value of exports decreased 12%, to $780m.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Railway construction delayed, says Azerbaijan Railways chief

JUNE 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan Railways chief Javid Gurbanov said that the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway connection has been delayed by adverse weather conditions, but is on track to be completed by the end of the year. Georgia has already completed the section that will cross its territory. The Turkish government also confirmed that it plans to complete its section by the end of 2016. The original timeline of the project, started in 2007,scheduled its completion for 2010.

ENDS

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Remittances drop in Georgia

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank said remittances from abroad fell by 5% in May to $92.9m, compared to May 2015, a sign that the regional economic malaise is still biting economies in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. Money transfers from Russia represented one-third of all remittances last month. Remittance flows to Georgia have also been badly hit by Greece’s economic problems. Greece, also a predominately Orthodox country, had been the second highest originator of remittances to Georgia.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

International Bank of Azerbaijan issues loan to Iran

JUNE 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – International Bank of Azerbaijan, the country’s largest lender, will issue a $500m loan to Iran for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section, part of a rail link from Qazvin to Astara, around the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. The total cost of the Rasht-Astara segment is projected to be $1.1b. The countries of the South Caucasus have been quick to engage Iran in business since sanctions were lifted earlier this year.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Kazakh oil revenues fall

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh officials said production of oil and gas makes up around 17% of the country’s GDP, a proportion eight percentage points lower than in 2015. The fall in oil prices has impacted both feasibility and profitability at Kazakhstan’s oil and gas fields. This is an important measure of the impact of the drop in oil price on Kazakhstan’s economy.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Kazakhstan begins constructing Shymkent city

JUNE 13 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s government said it has started construction work at Shymkent City, a new urban development outside Shymkent, in the south of the country. The government will share costs with local investors and plans to deliver the project in 2020. Shymkent is Kazakhstan’s third-largest city. The government wants to stimulate the economy through major building schemes.

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(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

 

Editorial: Kazakhstan’s financial stimulus

JUNE 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – It’s been a tough year for Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, perhaps one of the toughest. The economy has flat-lined, worrying investors and locals, who have seen jobs disappear and the value of their tenge savings fall.

Unprecedented anti-government protests swept across Kazakhstan in April and May and in June gunmen alleged to have had links to radical Islamists in Syria attacked targets in Aktobe, killing several people.

Mr Nazarbayev has already staged a parliamentary election, a favourite tactic of his to shore up support. This worked only momentarily. Now he has had to spend big. He’s chucked $712m at the economy in a Keynesian attempt to breathe life into it and create jobs and wealth.

Will it work? It’s unclear. He’s picked small and medium-sized companies and house building to target. These are good targets. Mr Nazarbayev is looking to help out ordinary Kazakhs directly. And it’s the same message with the house-building.

Of course, though, there are serious pitfalls. The plan could be badly implemented, money wasted or stolen.

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(Editorial from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)