Tag Archives: economy

IMF improves forecast for Azerbaijan’s shrinking GDP

JUNE 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s GDP will shrink by 2.4% in 2016, the IMF said in a statement after it sent a mission to Baku. The IMF improved its forecast, which had previously said that Azerbaijan’s GDP would fall by 3% this year. Sustained low oil prices have hit Azerbaijan’s growth. The IMF has urged structural reforms to accelerate the country’s diversification objectives but the Azerbaijani economy has remained stubbornly addicted to oil.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Exchange rate stabilises in Kazakhstan

MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said tenge-denominated deposits had grown steadily in Q1 2016, due to the stabilisation of the exchange rate with the US-dollar after five months of high volatility. Commercial banks increased interest rates on deposits in an effort to attract customers. The C.Bank’s decision to lower interest rates earlier in May could now depress deposits and increase spending.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Kazakhstan lifts ban on potato import from Kyrgyzstan

JUNE 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev lifted a ban on the import of potatoes from Kyrgyzstan after meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Almazbek Atambayev in Astana. Kazakh authorities had banned Kyrgyz potatoes in early May due to an outbreak of Globod- era rostochiensis, a pest. The Kazakh regulatory agency said it will continue to monitor the presence of the pest in the following months.

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(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Kyrgyz CBank cuts interest rates

MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank cut interest rates late by two percentage points to 6% because it said that inflation had significantly slowed, local media reported. Annualised inflation measured 0.2% at the end of April, an indication that economic activity has slowed in Kyrgyzstan. The Central Bank has also kept the som-US dollar exchange rate below 70/1 for two months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Subsistence level rises in Kazakhstan

JUNE 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The minimum subsistence level in Kazakhstan increased by 0.5% in May, indicating that inflation and slower economic growth have hit people’s livelihoods. The Statistics Committee said Kazakhs need a minimum of 20,630 tenge ($61) to survive. This is 8.5% higher than in May last year but is still slower than annualised inflation of 16.7%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Kyrgyzstan to transfer Chinese factories

MAY 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s foreign minister Yerlan Abdyldayev said he is negotiating the transfer of several Chinese factories to the Central Asian country over the next few years. Mr Abyldayev sees this development as a potential boost for Kyrgyzstan’s industrialisation. Kyrgyzstan’s economy is heavily reliant on remittances from abroad, which have shrunk in the past 18 months due to a recession in Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

EBRD to issue bond to Azerbaijan’s economy

MAY 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — The EBRD is ready to issue a manat- denominated bond to help de-dollarise Azerbaijan’s economy, the Bank’s President, Sir Suma Chakra- barti, said. While the amount of the issue was not disclosed, Sir Suma said the bond will be sold within Azerbaijan to boost the local currency’s credibility.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Armenian exports grow

MAY 20 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Trade turnover grew in Armenia during the first four months of 2016, compared to the previous year. Exports grew by 21.7% to $513m and imports grew by 18.4% to $1.2b. Importantly, exports to Russia doubled in the first two months of the year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

Kazakh minister comment triggers diplomatic row

BISHKEK, MAY 23 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — A comment about Kyrgyz women cleaning lavatories in Moscow by Kazakhstan’s minister of culture, Arystanbek Mukhamediuly, hit a raw nerve with Kyrgyzstan and triggered a diplomatic row.

In comments to media, Mr Mukhamediuly said Kyrgyz women cleaning lavatories in Moscow reflected poorly on Kyrgyzstan.

“Every time I fly to Moscow and other cities I see that young Kyrgyz ladies, our neighbours, are cleaning toilets,” he said. “It hurts me, as I see these young creatures who had to leave Kyrgyzstan because of unemployment and the absence of opportunities.”

Thousands of people leave Kyrgyzstan each year to find work in Russia and send back remittances. It is a system that spans Central Asia.

And both the Kyrgyz government, which sent an official note of protest to the Kazakh embassy, and ordinary Kyrgyz took umbrage at Mr Mukhamediuly’s comments.

In Bishkek Ulukbek, 20, said the comments had been disrespectful. “As a high-rank official, he should not have talked about our migrants,” he said.

Some others, though, felt that the Kazakh minister had made a good point. “I do not think that he was wrong about us, thousands of my fellow citizens have to work in Russia to earn some money,” said Bolot, 42. “We should blame our government and our president as it is their fault.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)

GM Uzbekistan to stop selling cars to Russia

MAY 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Life.ru, a Russian newspaper, said that GM Uzbekistan might soon stop selling its cars to Russia, as the company’s distributor in Voronezh is on the brink of bankruptcy. GM Uzbekistan, a joint venture between US-based GM and state owned UzAvtosanoat, faced problems last month, when a corruption case hit its top managers and slowed car exports to Russia. It is one of the most important industrial units in Uzbekistan outside the oil and gas sector.

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(News report from Issue No. 282, published on May 27 2016)