Tag Archives: economy

Greek econ woes hit Georgia

JULY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – TBILISI — Remittances from Greece to Georgia have dropped by nearly a fifth this year because Greek financial meltdown, deputy finance minister Giorgi Kakauridze said.

And Greece is a vital of income for Georgia. Russia, Greece is Georgia’s most important source of remittances.

“The situation in Greece will of course affect money transfers to Georgia, but remittances are already significantly reduced not only from Greece, but from other sources as well, so it will not have a significant effect on the Georgian economy anymore,” Mr Kakauridze told the Rustavi-2 television station.

Georgia, Russia and Greece are all predominantly Christian Orthodox countries.

Overall remittance flows to Georgia have fallen by 23% to $438m in the first five months of this year. Remittances from Greece were down 18% to $69m. From Russia, remittances had fallen by 42% to $163m.

Greece has defaulted on an IMF loan repayment and it is holding a referendum on Sunday to decide whether to accept tighten bailout rules. It’s banks have placed currency controls on withdrawals.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

EU grants Uzbekistan $168m

JULY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Union will give Uzbekistan $168m to boost infrastructure in rural areas, the European Commission envoy Yuri Sturk said.Mr Sturk specifically said that the EU grant was earmarked to improve irrigation and to boost renewable energies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

Remittances to Tajikistan fall sharply

JUNE 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – DUSHANBE – Remittances from Tajik workers in Russia to Tajikistan have dropped by 44% this year, the Russian Central Bank said.

This is inline with World Bank projections and highlights the economic problems facing Tajikistan and other countries in Central Asia. Russia’s economy has dipped into recession because of a combination of falling oil prices and economic sanctions imposed by the West in retaliation for the Kremlin’s alleged support for rebels in east Ukraine.

And this recession has hit Tajikistan and other countries in Central Asia hard. Remittances account for roughly half of Tajikistan’s economy.

In Dushanbe, the mood on the streets was glum.

Amirbek Saidbekov, a Dushanbe resident, said life had gotten harder.

“The money they send home has declined by about a half,” he said. “The money my uncle sends is not enough to provide for his family. The life quality of his family has worsened now.”

Shuhrat Murodilloev, a Dushanbe-based political scientist, said the drop in remittance was having a knock-on effect.

“Market employment is falling because of the decreased sales and the unstable Tajik currency,” he said. “Many people have lost their jobs in the market because there is no money coming from Russia.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

Kyrgyz reserves increase

JUNE 30 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank has been steadily rebuilding its gold and foreign currency reserves since reaching a low in April, media reported. Last year Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank spent frantically as it tried to prop up its falling currency.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

NPLs drop in Kazakhstan

JULY 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said the percentage of non-performing loans held by banks had fallen from a peak of 33% to 13% because of a combination of tax breaks and state financing. It’s unclear exactly how these measures helped to reduce non-performing loans.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

Tajik electricity prices may rise

JULY 2 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan’s economy ministry said that electricity prices may have to rise by 12% this year, media reported. Electricity prices have become an issue in the region because a proposed rise in Armenia has sparked street demonstrations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 238, published on July 2 2015)

Anti-government protests gather pace in Armenian capital

JUNE 21-25 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – YEREVAN — In an often tense standoff with police, thousands of people demonstrated in Yerevan this week against electricity price rises.

A Bulletin correspondent estimated that the protest had swelled to around 8,000 people by Thursday evening, the biggest anti-government demonstration in Armenia for a generation and one that could pose a serious threat to the authorities.

On Tuesday, the second day of the protest, police fired water cannons and detained more than 200 people as they tried to clear Freedom Square in the centre of the city. The assault, though, just appeared to strengthen protesters’ resolve.

“Our demand remains the same and we will not leave Baghramyan Avenue until the illegal decision on electricity price hike will not be annulled,” said Aram Manukyan, an activist.

Hundreds of protesters have camped out overnight since and called for the 17% electricity price rise to be repealed.

This is the third price rise in two years. RAO UES, the Russian company that owns Armenia’s electricity network, said it needed to increase prices because of the fall in the value of the Armenian dram which makes imports expensive.

The price raises are particularly painful because Armenia, like other countries in the region, is having to deal with a drop in its economic prospects.

Protesters had started to gather in central Yerevan on Monday, June 22, in anticipation of parliament approving the electricity price rise two days later.

The next day, police turned their water cannons against the demonstrators and waded into the crowd, detaining people trying to stage a sit-in.

Since then, the crowds of protesters have swelled but been peaceful.

PM Hovik Abrahamyan said that the protests were misguided.

“Blocking one of the major prospects in the city will not lead to any success. I call on the activists to get back to constructive dialogue,” he said.

In 2008, eight people died in Yerevan when soldiers fired on anti-government demonstrators.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Uzbekistan and China sign deal

JUNE 19 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbek officials signed a protocol with their Chinese counterparts to extend their economic cooperation, media reported. The deal was signed by Chinese and Uzbek government officials in the Chinese city of Rizhao where the two governments had been holding a third intergovernmental meeting.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Car imports to Azerbaijan slump in 2015

JUNE 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The number of cars imported into Azerbaijan dropped by around 50% in the first five months of the year, media reported quoting official statistics.

Between January and May, 13,912 passenger cars were imported into the country, down from 27,444 during the same period last year.

The slump in car imports into Azerbaijan is probably a result of a number of factors.

These include a general economic downturn in the region, linked to a recession in Russia and a drop in oil and gas prices. Russia’s economy drives the former Soviet region and oil and gas is the mainstay of Azerbaijan’s economy.

Also, earlier this year Azerbaijan devalued its manat currency by a third, making imports more expensive.

And in 2014, the Azerbaijani government passed a law which banned car imports not using the higher grade Euro-4 fuel type.

This meant that many older cars from Europe could no longer be imported into Azerbaijan.

The knock on effect of this slump in demand is hitting car prices in Azerbaijan too, economist Vugar Bayramov told the azernews.az website.

He said that as inflation has picked up in Azerbaijan, it has pushed up the price of a new cars but the value for older cars has fallen. “Our monitoring shows that the prices of old cars decreased by 7%,” he said.

Mr Bayramov also said that banks in Azerbaijan had also tightened their finance requirements for cars, requiring a downpayment for financing of 50%, up from 20% earlier.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)

Worker migration from Tajikistan to Russia falls

JUNE 22 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The number of migrant workers travelling from Tajikistan to Russia fell by 15% during the first half of the year, according to data from the ministry of labour.

The statistics, which run from January to mid-June 2015, showed that about 315,000 workers travelled from Tajikistan to Russia to find work, 52,000 less than in 2014.

Most have been put off by the drop in Russian economic output, which has knocked job opportunities.

Tajik labour migration to Kazakhstan, though, has increased by 33%, although the absolute numbers are small in comparison with Russia. The data showed that 4,800 workers from Tajikistan had travelled to Kazakhstan to find work, up from 1,200 in 2014.

Remittances from migrant workers are key to Tajikistan’s economy. A World Bank report forecast a 40% drop in remittances to Tajikistan this year because of the poor state of the Russian economy and the collapse of the Tajik somoni.

The new ministry of labour data adds credence to this worsening economic picture.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 237, published on June 25 2015)