Tag Archives: Kazakhstan

IMF assesses Kazakh economy

MAY 7 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kazakh Central Bank should relax its monetary policy and allow the tenge to appreciate, media quoted the IMF as saying after a field trip to Kazakhstan.

It said that the tenge was now undervalued and that the narrow band that the Central Bank anchors the currency in should be widened.

In February, the Kazakh Central Bank suddenly cut the value of the tenge by 20%, a move the IMF said could trigger inflationary pressure.

The assessment is hardly a ringing endorsement of the Kazakh Central Bank and its policies.

It appears that Kazakh consumers, also, agree with the IMF. Fresh data showed that since December the amount of savings held in US dollars has increased by around a third. People are clearly nervous of the tenge.

The IMF also highlighted a much talked about weakness in the Kazakh economy; the high proportion of non-performing loans. Roughly a third of all loans are considered non- performing and this, the IMF said, had to be cut.

A senior manager in the currency sector in Almaty said that both relaxing the band that the tenge was held in and cutting the proportion of non-performing loans was wishful thinking by the IMF.

“Such a decision would mean creating panic in the society,” he said on condition of anonymity of the IMF’s proposal to relax the currency band.

“The government wants the opposite. Everything has to be calm and quiet. Increasing the range would enhance speculative moves in the currency market.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Russia sanctions could hurt Kazakhstan

MAY 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kairat Kelimbetov, head of the Kazakh Central Bank, said he was concerned about the negative impact on Kazakhstan’s economy of sanctions on Russia. Mr Kelimbetov said 7% of Kazakhstan’s exports went to Russia and 36% of its imports came from Russia. Remittances are also important.

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(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Kazakhstan bans alcohol imports

MAY 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan has temporarily banned alcohol imports from Italy, France, Scotland, Belarus and Russia because some of the labelling does not meet requirements laid out by the Customs Union, media reported. It’s unclear exactly what guidelines the alcohol importers have failed to hit.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Kazakh president snubs Moscow military meeting for US diplomat

MAY 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev appears to have triggered a minor international row by snubbing a meeting of a former Soviet military group in favour of talks with a senior US diplomat.

Mr Nazarbayev had been due to travel to Moscow for a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), a military group that includes Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan.

Instead he decided to meet with the US deputy Secretary of State, William Burns, in Astana.

Officials were quick to deny there was a problem even though all the other CSTO leaders turned up in Moscow for a meeting chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr Nazarbayev was conspicuous by his absence.

Back in Astana, to make the situation even more uncomfortable for Mr Nazarbayev, diplomats told journalists that Mr Burns had asked Mr Nazarbayev to try and use his influence with Mr Putin to relax Russia’s pressure in eastern Ukraine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Kazakhstan rams home unity message

OSKEMEN/Kazakhstan, May 14 (The Conway Bulletin) — Yerkimbek Ayazbayev pointed at the billboard sitting on the top of the local government headquarters in this town in north-east Kazakhstan.

He read the slogan, written in both Kazakh and Russian, aloud: “Unity is the guarantee of success.” It had the ring of a Soviet-style mantra.

Under orders from central government, officials in northern Kazakhstan are urgently pressing this message home. They’re nervous because events in Ukraine have shaken up the former Soviet region’s fragile ethnic divisions.

Ayazbayev is a man with a mission. He runs the local branch of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan, a government-backed body representing the interests of Kazakhstan’s myriad ethnic groups, which numbered over 120 at last count.

It’s the job of Ayazbayev, an ethnic Kazakh, to drive home the mantra of ethnic harmony. He does this, seemingly, with the zeal of a true believer.

“We’re a multi-ethnic state and let’s say so proudly,” he said.

Russians equal around 25% of the population nationwide, but here in Oskemen over two-thirds of people are ethnic Russian. Oskemen is the Kazakh name for the Soviet city of Ust Kamenogorsk.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, 73, is hugely popular with Russians in Oskemen, but they are divided about the community’s prospects in the looming post-Nazarbayev future.

While the older generation is happy to stay in Kazakhstan, many of the younger ethnic Russians see their future over the border.

Student Anna Prokayeva plans to go and study in Russia. “I don’t want to come back to Kazakhstan,” she said. “This is my homeland, and no-one’s discriminating against me but I think I’ll feel more comfortable there.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Kazakhstan’s People’s IPO set for June

MAY 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s economy minister, Yerbolat Dossayev, said the so-called People’s IPO would finally go ahead next month. The People’s IPO has been continually delayed. Mr Dossayev said the first round of sell offs of state assets would include subsidies of energy company Kazmunaigas and railway company Temir Zholy.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Kazakh businessman buys supermarket chain

MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kenes Rakishev, one of the best connected men in Kazakhstan, bought a minority stake in retailer Magnum Cash & Carry. Magnum has seven shops in Almaty and two in Astana. Reports did not say how much Mr Rakishev paid for his stake nor who he bought the stake from.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Kazakhstan offers India oil stake

MAY 4 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan has offered India’s state-owned energy company ONGC Videsh a stake in the Abai oil field in the Caspian Sea, media reported. Almost exactly a year ago, Kazakhstan blocked a deal by India to buy a stake in the giant Kashagan oil field. India has been looking to Kazakhstan to boost its oil reserves.

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Kazakhstan plans tax breaks for investors

MAY 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to woo foreign investors, Kazakhstan plans to introduce various tax breaks and other benefits, economy minister Yerbolat Dossayev said. These new measures are likely to include 10-year tax breaks and visa free entry for 90 days for investors from developed countries.

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

World Bank pledges $2.5b for Kazakhstan

MAY 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The World Bank signed a framework agreement with Astana to invest a further $2.5b into small and medium sized businesses and to help reform the banking sector.

This is a strong statement of intent from the World Bank.

“We are ready to start the first project on easing the access to financing for SMEs. We are glad that our collaboration with the government has been renewed,” said a spokesperson at the World Bank’s office in Astana.

In the same week, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also signed an agreement to join its proposed $1.6b investment with a $5.5b cash injection from Kazakhstan’s own national funds.

ADB top management described the investment as “groundbreaking” as they gathered at a summit with the government in Astana.

Their investments will be primarily focused on the development of small and medium enterprises and strengthening the non-oil sector of the economy.

Both deals are important for propelling Kazakhstan further towards its stated aim of becoming one of the world’s top 30 economies by 2050.

The world’s main financial institutions appear to believe that the Kazakh economy can achieve this, or at least can punch further above its weight.

One experienced financial professional in Almaty was more candid, however. “If the money is directed towards the development of infrastructure and the private sector, then it’s a good thing. Otherwise, it can be a waste,” he said.

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)