JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s finance minister Samir Sharifov said a new 20% tax on capital exports will not be imposed on foreign investors. The manat has lost around a third of its value since the Central Bank ditched a peg to the US dollar on Dec. 21. In response the government imposed various capital control requirements.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s Central Bank said it would compensate customers of banks who lost savings in banks which have been stripped of their licences over the past couple of weeks. Legally, the Central Bank is only obliged to compensate up to 30,000 manat ($18,400). Around 6,600 customers will be eligible for the refund.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Ratings agency Fitch said it forecasts GDP growth in Armenia of 2% in 2016. The agency also revised upwards its prediction on the final 2015 results. According to Fitch, Armenia grew by 2.7% in 2015, pushed up by a relatively positive trade balance. While imports fell sharply by 26% compared to 2014, exports only contracted by 1% in the same period.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Azerbaijan in 2016 will measure between 10% and 12%, finance minister Samir Sharifov said on TV, up from a previous estimate of 3%. In 2015 inflation measured 4%. The sudden increase is linked to the sharp devaluation in the manat currency, Mr Sharifov said.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Currency exchange booths in Almaty refused to change US dollars after the price of oil started to rise slightly, highlighting the fears and weaknesses of the Kazakh economy. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s currency has slumped with the decline in oil price. Unlike some of its neighbours, Kazakhstan hasn’t imposed heavy currency controls.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 29 2016, DUSHANBE (The Conway Bulletin) — A recession in Russia and the collapse of the rouble has slowed remittances to Tajikistan and forced thousands of migrant workers back home, pressuring jobs, resources and social infrastructure.
Last week, Russia’s migrant service said that there were only 863,000 Tajik workers in Russia, down by a third from last year.
Tajikistan, with its poor, agricultural economy, cannot absorb the increasing number of returning migrants.
Toshboltaev Bozorboy, a 50-year- old man, was one of the returnees. He arrived back in December and said
that he’s been unable to find a job since he flew back to Tajikistan.
“I used to work in construction sites in Moscow earning 20,000 roubles a month ($263) but there is still no other option for me except to leave for Russia,” he said.
The economic downturn started in mid-2014 when oil prices started to fall and Western-imposed sanctions on Russia started to bite. Remittances from workers abroad make up around half of Tajikistan’s GDP and the economic slowdown has had a huge impact. Most Tajiks who lost their jobs in Russia said they were unable to find new jobs in Tajikistan.
Firuz Iskandarov, 23, quit Russia in August 2014. He has been out of work since then.
“Since coming back from Russia, I have done some farming and selling fruits. But that is a seasonal work. I don’t know what we are going to do,” he said, his voice choking with emotion.
For the authorities, returning migrants are a serious issue. A migration expert in Dushanbe said: “For most it will be difficult to find a decent job, and they will not be able to provide for their families. And this can lead to an increase in domestic violence, suicide, and a deterioration in criminal situations in the country.”
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) -The organisers of Kazakhstan’s flagship EXPO-2017 event have cut its budget by 53b tenge ($140m) to keep pace with demands from the government to slash spending during this period of low oil revenue. Previously, nothing had seemingly been too expensive or too extravagant for EXPO-2017.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s customs agency said electricity exports had halved in 2015 compared to the previous year. Azerbaijan exported 276.8m kWh of electricity in 2015 against 588.3m kWh in 2014. Demand for electricity in Azerbaijan has soared, forcing it to divert exports for domestic consumption.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan has cut its defence spending by 40%, IHS Jane’s Defence reported, part of its efforts to slash government costs as revenues falter in the worsening economic climate. Jane’s said that Azerbaijani government documents had shown that it had cut the so called Special Projects part of the defence budget which it estimated ran to 40% of its total budget.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
JAN. 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The reserves of Azerbaijan’s Central Bank fell by 60% in 2015 to $5b, it said, highlighting just how much cash it had burned through trying to prop up its ailing manat currency. The Central Bank was forced to devalue the manat twice last year as oil prices stayed stubbornly low. The manat is now worth around 50% of its value of a year ago.
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(News report from Issue No. 265, published on Jan. 29 2016)
