JAN. 23 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with Euronews, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said that it was now time to turn the country’s political revolution into an economic revolution. He said that he wanted his government to reduce tax for small and medium sized businesses, streamline regulation and attract foreign investment.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 25 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut its interest rate to 6.75% from 7% and said that is was likely that further rate drops would follow because of sluggish inflation, despite a projected increase in economic growth and consumer growth. In an interview with Reuters, Georgian Central Bank chief Koba Gvenetadze said that inflation was ticking along at 1.5% compared to a target inflation of 3%. Mr Gvenetadze said interest rates were likely to drop to 6% or 5%.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan wants to focus its foreign policy more closely on generating business opportunities, a departure from its previously stated aim of promoting world peace. The new strategy was unveiled by deputy foreign minister Roman Vassilenko, who said that the country’s foreign policy was going to be galvanized around generating more trade opportunities, and investment and development minister Zhenis Kassymbek, who said Kazakhstan wanted to open up 10 more trade missions in Russia, Central Asia and China this year (Jan. 22/29).
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
ALMATY/Jan. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — — The Kazakh government will bail out Tsesnabank, the country’s second-largest bank, for the second time in six months, once again highlighting the fragility of Kazakhstan’s financial system.
The $1.6b bailout prompted an outburst from President Nursultan Nazarbayev that finance officials and the Central Bank were “cowards” and were not doing enough to protect the system from conflicts of interests and poor bank owners.
“You are just cowards, not cabinet ministers!” Reuters quoted Mr Nazarbayev telling cabinet ministers and Central Bank officials at a meeting. “Are your hands and knees shaking too much to make a decision? What are you doing here then?”
Mr Nazarbayev is particularly sensitive about the strength of Kazakhstan’s banks. He ordered the Central Bank to tighten up its regulations of the banks after the 2008/9 Global Financial Crisis, when the Kazakh government had to buy a handful of bankrupt banks, but an economic downturn in 2014/17 showed up the sector’s continued weakness.
Some banks did prove resilient in the downturn, but the government was still forced to bail out some the more heavily-indebted larger banks and also allow a handful of smaller banks to go bankrupt.
This has hit the government’s resources, dented its wider image for financial competence and worried ordinary people who have drawn down their bank deposits.
Tsesnabank, which is owned by Adilbek Zhaksybekov, received a $1.2b bailout in September. Mr Zhaksybekov is a close confidant of Mr Nazarbayev and his former Chief-of-Staff.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 30 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkmenistan will sell off its transport network and cut funding to its Academy of Sciences in more cuts to public spending which are designed to keep its listing economy afloat.
In a decree published on Turkmen government websites, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that the changes were needed to modernise the Turkmen economy.
Last year, Mr Berdymukhamedov slashed subsidies on water, gas and electricity and also raised duties on alcohol and cigarettes. Although information is thin, analysts have said that the cutbacks are a response to Turkmenistan’s sluggish recovery from an economic downturn in 2014-17 linked to a collapse in energy prices. Gas is Turkmenistan’s main export.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Union has pledged 5m euros to help Uzbekistan join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Uzbek media reported. The pledge is more evidence of the EU’s support for reforms in Uzbekistan that have opened up the country. After 25 years of isolation under Islam Karimov, Uzbekistan is trying to open itself up to international trade.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 29 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75%, its first downgrade since February 2017. It said that low inflation was the root cause of this downgrade. Most of the region has been suffering from low prices since countries recovered from an economic downturn in 2014-17.
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>This story was first published in issue 398 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 31 2019
Copyright The Conway Bulletin 2019
JAN. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Pasha Bank doubled its share of the corporate lending market in 2018, the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s said. It said that Pasha’s share had increased to 17% of the market from 9%. Pasha has been looking to expand its loan portfolio in both Azerbaijan and also in Georgia and Turkey, markets that now make up a quarter of its loans.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
JAN. 18 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered a joint Uzbek-Emirati investment company to be set up. The fund, according to reports, will have a working capital of $1b and will be 75% owned by the Abu Dhabi Development Fund, and 25% owned by the Uzbek Fund for Reconstruction and Development.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019
JAN. 17 (The Conway Bulletin) — Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan rose by over 10% in 2018, media reported by quoting the National Statistics Committee, far quicker than the average inflation rate of 4.5%. People in Kyrgyzstan are increasingly frustrated about jobs going to Chinese, and rising petrol prices will feed into this frustration. The National Statistics Agency also said that Kyrgyzstan’s GDP growth in 2018 had been 3.5%, roughly in-line with expectations.
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>>This story was first published in issue 397 of The Conway Bulletin on Jan. 20 2019