Tag Archives: economy

Kazakh C. Bank aims to hire foreign managers

OCT. 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank aims to hire foreign managers to oversee spending of the foreign currency- denominated element of its pension fund, worth around $5b. The hiring process could kick-start next year, according to one source at the Central Bank. Foreign currency-denominated assets make up around 21% of the $20b pension fund. The Central Bank aims to increase the share to 23% this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Kazakhs look for public sector jobs as business cuts staff to see off econ downturn

ALMATY, OCT. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Official statistics showed that there are now more people working in Kazakhstan’s state sector than in private business, a reflection of how the economic downturn has cut into the job market.

The State Statistics Committee said that 51% of the total labour force in Kazakhstan now worked in the public sector, up from 46% in 2014 and 47% in 2015.

The jump in the proportion of the labour force working in the public sector, though, is only partially driven by an rise in state sector jobs.

The main driver has been a cut in the number of jobs in private enterprise.

Accurate data on these job losses is patchy but anecdotally there are many stories of cuts.

Madina Kuan quit her job at a media firm to look for a better one.

“I thought it would be easy to find a new one but I’ve now been jobless for six months,” she said. “My brother, as well, works in the oil sector in west of Kazakhstan and his company doesn’t have a job for him. They did not fire him though but instead just asked him to wait until things improve.”

A sharp fall in oil prices and a recession in Russia triggered a collapse in Kazakhstan’s currency. Despite fighting talk from the government, inflation has grown and businesses have been cutting staff.

The finprom.kz website has reported that the number of people employed by Kazakh private businesses has shrunk but that the public sector has increased the number of hires.

Kuralay Orazgeldy, who used to work in Almaty’s department of budget planning said people were attracted to public sector jobs because of the stability.

“Turnover is very high, staff changes often,” she said. “The salary is stable, everything is paid on time and often workers are rewarded but I can’t say that salary equals to the volume of work.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Uzbekistan unites economic zones

OCT. 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s three special economic zones will be ruled under a single, unified legal and tax regime, a presidential decree said. Uzbekistan’s government is trying to improve its business climate and this involves providing more transparent and consistent rules for special economic zones in Navoi, Angren and Jizzakh. It sees the SEZs as critical for attracting foreign investment. Korean Air has a transport hub, for example, at the Navoi SEZ.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Inflation rises in Kazakhstan

NOV. 2 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Statistics Committee said inflation had risen by 0.6% in October, pushing up prices that had stabilised in previous months. Since the beginning of the year, prices have risen an average of 6.2%. The Central Bank has said that it wants to contain inflation between 6% and 8%. Last year, inflation in Kazakhstan reached double digits.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Azerbaijan exports oil to Belarus

NOV. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan sent 84,700 tonnes of oil to Belarus, the country’s first commercial energy exports to Belarus since short-lived swaps in 2010/11. Belneftekhim, the Belarusian buyer, will use Azerbaijani crude at its Mozyr refinery. Belarus is actively seeking alternative suppliers of oil as Russian shipments have failed to meet domestic demand. Azerbaijan’s oil was sent through Georgia’s Supsa port to Odessa in Ukraine and then on to Belarus.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Armenia needs high-value investments

NOV. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia needs to attract high-value added investment to sustain its growth, Arsen Nazaryan an officer at the World Bank’s IFC local office said in an interview. Of crucial importance, foreign investment that can upgrade the domestic economy and increase high-skilled jobs can only be obtained if the country undergoes more reforms, Mr Nazaryan told the banks.am website. A section of its economy that Armena has developed is tech.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Uzbeks complain about price rises but steer clear of protests

TASHKENT, NOV. 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Anatoliy, 60, earns a living by ferrying children to school each day across Uzbekistan’s Soviet- built capital and then hawking for fares in his battered Daewoo Matiz, along the city’s wide boulevards.

“I used to spend 80,000 sum (around $25.7) per week to buy fuel for my car and now I spend 120,000 sum ($38.6),” he said with a resigned air.

On the issue of protesting against the price rises, he shrugged and said that people in Uzbekistan were different from people in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. “People here are ready to say ‘hop mailly’ [“let it be” in Uzbek] to whatever decision is taken by officials,” he said.

Uzbekistan is considered by most human rights organisations to be one of the most repressive countries in the world and anti-government demonstrations are virtually unheard of.

Officials have said that the price rises were needed to balance the price of petrol sold in the regions and in Tashkent. Many people, though, are skeptical and have said that the government is exporting too much petrol for its own profit.

Shokhrukh, 40, another Tashkent-based gypsy cab driver sucked in a deep breath when he was asked about the petrol price rises.

“Our oil reserves in the Bukhara deposit are now insufficient to cover domestic petrol demands and the government has to import petrol from Russia which they have to pay for in roubles and US dollars,” he said.

Like other Central Asian currencies, the Uzbek sum has lost value over the past couple of years, pushing up inflation.

But is it not only drivers who will be impacted by the rise in the cost of petrol. Shukhrat, 40, an ethnic Uyghur in Tashkent, who sells cloth at Tashkent local bazaar said that all prices will have to increase off the back of such a big jump in the price of petrol.

“Food requires transportation and consequently fuel, I expect some shop owners will rise their food prices,” he said.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Georgia’s GDP grows by 1.5%

NOV. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s GDP grew by 1.5% in September, according to the country’s Statistics Committee. Total growth in Q3 2016 amounted to 2.2%, mirroring last year’s pace. Still, the government predicts a 3% growth this year and a 4% increase in 2017. In 2015, Georgia recorded a 2.8% GDP increase, its weakest since 2009.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Azerbaijan’s reserves fall, again

NOV. 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s foreign reserves fell by 3.1% in October to $4b, the Central Bank said in a statement. At the end of 2015, foreign currency holdings amounted to $5b. This year alone, Azerbaijan used up 20% of its reserves. Over the past two years, sustained low oil prices forced the government to intervene in the currency market and prop up the economy. In 2015, reserves shrank by 60%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 303, published on Nov. 4 2016)

Kazakh C. Bank says rate cut likely

OCT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — In an interview with the FT, Kazakh Central Bank chief Daniyar Akishev said that inflation had slowed to under 12% and that GDP growth would measure around 0.5% this year. He also said that it was likely there would be another interest rate cut before the end of the year, another signal that the Central Bank’s confidence in the economy has strengthened after a rocky 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 302, published on Oct. 28 2016)