Tag Archives: economy

Inflation slows in Georgia

APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Price inflation in Georgia measured 0.5% in March, Geostats said, a sharp fall from 1.7% in February. The fall pushed overall annualised inflation down slightly to 5.4% in March from 5.5% in February. The Central Bank has said it is targeting overall inflation for 2017 of around 4%. Like the rest of the region, Georgia is recovering from a sharp economic downturn linked to a recession in Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Kyrgyz economy is improving, says C.Bank

Leave a Reply

MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate steady at 5%, half the level it was 12 months ago, citing an improvement in the economy and a slowdown in inflation. Importantly it said that the economy had grown in the first two months of the year and that the som currency had stabilised without the Central Bank’s interference. Currencies and economies in the Central Asia/South Caucasus region have been hit hard since 2014 by a recession in Russia and fall in oil prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Currencies: Tajik somoni

Leave a Reply

APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s somoni currency keeps on hitting all-time lows. The Central Bank has managed a fall in its value since 2014 that has seen its worth half to 8.23/$1. At the start of 2014, the somoni was valued at 4.77/$1.

But, the rate of the fall may actually be good news. In July last year the Central Bank published a gloomy assessment of the somoni’s outlook. It said that the somoni would fall by 21% in 2017 and by another 8% in 2018. Of course there is some way to go, but in the first three months of the year the Tajik somoni has fallen just over 4%. This means that if the current fate of depreciation is maintain, the somoni will come in slightly better than expected.

Like the rest of the region, Tajikistan’s economy has been hit hard by the recession in Russia, it is officially the most remittance- dependent country in the world and most of this comes from Russia. The EBRD and the ADB have offered to help Tajikistan but require reforms.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Georgian economic growth accelerates

Leave a Reply

MARCH 30 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s economy grew by 4.8% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2016, Geostat said. It said that a rise in remittances, mainly from Russia, and an increase in exports had boosted economic growth. The Georgian economy has weathered the economic downturn that has hit the region since 2014 better than its neighbours.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Investors set up club in Armenia

Leave a Reply

MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — In a major boost to Armenia’s business-friendly PM, Karen Karapetyan, 36 Armenian millionaires living in Russia said that they would chip into a new fund designed to kick-start business in Armenia. At a signing ceremony in Yerevan, Mr Karapetyan said that the Investors Club of Armenia would help to stimulate further economic growth. It will also have helped give Mr Karapetyan and his Republican Party a boost ahead of an election on April 2. The Investors Club has not yet named any target projects.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Armenian fruit firms sign deal with the UAE

Leave a Reply

MARCH 29 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Two fruit and vegetable companies in Armenia have signed supply deals with six luxury hotels in the UAE, media reported. The Armenian companies, Tamara Fruit and Natural Organic Healthy Food Company, signed the deals earlier in March at a UAE-Armenia trade meeting in the Dubai. This sort of deal is important for Armenia which is looking to boost its exports.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Rates kept steady, prices rise in Armenia

Leave a Reply

APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6% because inflation was rebounding (March 28). It said that for the 12 months to the end of March inflation measured minus 0.2% but that it was confident that this would rise to plus 4% by the end of the year. The impact of a recent economic slowdown on Armenia has been to push prices down. In an interview with Reuters, Central Bank chief Arthur Javadyan said that it would simply be too risky for the Central Bank to cut interest rates any further. In August 2015, Armenia’s key interest rate had measured 10.5%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Economic activity picks up in Armenia but deflation lingers

Leave a Reply

YEREVAN, MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economic activity barometer, considered to be a key indicator of future growth, increased by 6.2% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2016, the National Statistics Agency said (March 20).

The data comes at just the right time for the ruling Republican Party which is looking to increase it support among voters ahead of a parliamentary election on April 2.

The growth in economic activity, though, was uneven. The growth came in industry and services. Agri- culture was stagnant and the important construction sector fell by 13.8%.

Armenia’s economy has been limping along since 2015 and deflationary pressure has become a major concern for policy makers. Over January and February, the statistics agency said that deflation had measured 0.4%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Remittances in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan fall, in general

Leave a Reply

MARCH 22 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Remittances to Central Asia from Russia, a vital engine for economies in the region, fell in 2016 compared to 2015, data from the Russian Central Bank showed. Uzbeks working in Russia sent back $2.74b in 2016, down from $3b in 2015 and Tajiks sent back $1.9b compared to $2.2b the year before. Kyrgyzstan actually increased its remittances from Russia to $1.7b in 2016 from $1.5b.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Kazakhstan says wants to build its own regional Ease of Doing Business index

Leave a Reply

ALMATY, MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Looking to ape the World Bank’s global ‘Ease of Doing Business’ survey, Kazakh officials said they wanted to set up a regional version covering all of Kazakhstan.

The survey will measure how difficult, or easy, Kazakh and foreign companies find it to do business in Kazakhstan’s regions, providing data for investors and the government.

Serzhan Madiyev, head of the state-linked Economic Research Institute said that the index had been ordered by President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

“We provide recommendations to the government on what needs to be done to raise the position in this rating every year,” he told the state- owned Astana Times newspaper. “It

is very important for attracting foreign investments.”

Kazakhstan has been looking to attract more investors, and its ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking by the World Bank has improved. In 2017, it was ranked in 35th position. The World Bank survey, though, doesn’t measure corruption, one of the main grudges that foreign investors have.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)