Tag Archives: economy

CURRENCY MARKETS: Uzbek soum collapses after pegs are cut

SEPT. 7 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s all eyes on the Uzbek soum after the Central Bank said last week that it would converge the dual currency exchange rate system that has been operating since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Under that system, the Black Market rate of the soum was roughly half the official rate.

And so it proved. As soon as controls over the official rate were scrapped, it fell by 48% to 8,100/$1. The unofficial rate, as measured by the uzdollar.com, remained pretty much steady at around 7,700/$1.

In reality, the economic shock of ditching support for an official exchange rate will be limited. Currency controls previously meant that the Black Market rate had been widely used. Uzbeks were used to a rate of around 7,700/$1 to 8,800/1.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

BP says operations resume at Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz

Leave a Reply

AUG. 14 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — BP said that it had resumed pumping gas out of the Shah Deniz gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea after a two week planned maintenance period closed the operation. The Shah Deniz gas field is Azerbaijan’s main gas field and is being expanded to send gas to Europe. Its second phase expansion is seen as critical to future European gas supplies,

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Senior Central Bank official named head of Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom

Leave a Reply

AUG. 31 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Galymzhan Pirmatov, formerly deputy chairman of the Kazakh Central Bank, was named head of Kazatompron, Kazakhstan’s atomic energy agency, replacing Askar Zhumagaliyev who was made a deputy PM earlier in August (Aug. 31). Kazatomprom is a high profile company in Kazakhstan, with Pres. Nursultan Nazarbayev pushing nuclear power and uranium mining. Mr Pirmatov has previously been a VP at Kazatomprom.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Kazakhstan keeps interest rates steady

Leave a Reply

AUG. 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan kept its key interest rate at 5%, citing low inflation and strong economic growth. Central Asia is emerging from a period of low growth, pressured by sluggish Russian economic performance. The latest economic data adds to the generally improving picture. Only a year ago, central banks in the region were boosting interest rates in an effort to dampen inflation and prop up ailing currencies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

EBRD extends financing in Armenia

Leave a Reply

SEPT. 5 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — On a trip to Armenia, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said it was extending its scheme aimed at boosting lending to women and small and medium-sized businesses. It will lend Araratbank, one of the larger banks in the country, the equivalent of $10m in local dram currency, media reported.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 342, published on Sept. 7 2017)

Kazakh Central Bank cuts interest rates

Leave a Reply

ALMATY AUG. 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percent to 10.25% because it said that inflationary pressures had slowed. It also said, though, that further rate cuts this year were unlikely. The Kazakh Central Bank had yanked up interest rates to 17% in 2016 because of a collapse in the value of the tenge and also inflationary pressure.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 341, published on Aug. 27 2017)

Uzbek soum fluctuates heavily

Leave a Reply

AUG. 19 2017 (The Bulletin) — Uzbekistan soum currency has been volatile since last week when Reuters reported that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the Central Bank wanted to reform exchange rates. Uzbekistan currently has two operational exchange rates — an official one and an unofficial one. The Black Market rate rose to around 7,300/$1 by Aug. 14, from around 8,400/$1 at the start of the month. It had lost ground by the end of the week, though, and finished at around 8,100/$1.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Uzbek CB introduces new bank note

Leave a Reply

AUG. 14 2017 (The Bulletin) — Reflecting sharp inflationary pressures, the Uzbek Central Bank said that it was going to introduce a 50,000 soum banknote. In June, in a rare statement, the Central Bank said that rising inflation had forced it to increase its key interest rate to 14% from 9%. Earlier this year it introduced a 10,000 soum note. The 50,000 soum note is equivalent to $12 on the official exchange market and around $6 on the unofficial market.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 340, published on Aug. 20 2017)

Kazakh CB to bail out commercial banks

Leave a Reply

AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank will write off bad loans held by the country’s commercial banks worth $1.8b to $3b through a bond purchasing programme, Olzhas Kizatov, head of its banking sector supervision department, told media. In essence this is a bail-out of the Kazakh banking sector. The Central Bank had estimated that 11% of the banks’ loan portfolio was considered bad but Mr Kizatov said that the real figure was higher.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)

Remittances from Russia to Armenia rise

Leave a Reply

AUG. 10 2017 (The Bulletin) — Remittances from Russia to Armenia increased by 15.5% in the first half of the year, compared to the same period in 2016, the Armenian Central Bank said, an important indicator that the economics of the region are beginning to improve. In total, flows from Russia, an important hub for Armenian migrant workers, hit $408m between January and June. The economies of the region are partly reliant on Russia to generate wealth for migrant workers.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 339, published on Aug. 13 2017)