Tag Archives: economy

Armenian CBank cuts rates

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian Central Bank said it cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 8.25%, just over a month after the previous rate cut. The Bank said this is in line with the policy of easing the cost of borrowing and other monetary instruments. Economic activity in the country is shrinking and the Central Bank wants to boost it gradually by cutting rates.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kyrgyz CBank cuts rates

MARCH 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank cut interest rates on Tuesday by two percentage points to 8%, in an effort to boost the domestic economy, official media said. At the beginning of March, Central Bank chief Tolkunbek Abdygulov had said interest rates would have remained steady at 10%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Polyethylene imports drop in Kazakhstan

MARCH 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Imports of polyethylene, used to produce plastics, into Kazakhstan fell by 48% to 12,500 tonnes in January-February 2016 compared to the same period last year, MRC, a consulting company, said in a report. According to the report, imports in February stood at a similar level to last year. The fall may also be another indication of the worsening economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kazakhstan- based Tethys losses rise

MARCH 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Guernsey-based Tethys Petroleum said its losses more than quadrupled in 2015 compared to the previous year, mostly due to the depreciation of some of its Kazakh assets. Tethys lost $74.6m in 2015. According to the company’s yearly report, the tenge depreciation also dented revenues. The tenge lost around half its value against the US dollar in 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Editorial: Georgia’s dollarised economy

APRIL 1 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Over-reliance on US dollars as a benchmark for prices of luxury items and, most importantly, as a currency in which savings are held, is a common affliction for the economies of South Caucasus and Central Asia.

This week Georgia’s Statistics Committee said US dollar-denominated deposits make up more than two-thirds of the total held at commercial banks. This is the highest level in the past five years.

Central bankers in other countries, however, boasted the public’s growing confidence in their local currencies but this is, frankly, coming from a very low base. And who really has much confidence in a currency such as the tenge right now? It lost around half its value last year. As did the Azerbaijani manat.

The vulnerability of these currencies and the inability of the Central Banks to protect their values show just why ordinary people turn to the trusty Greenback for their savings.

Despite whimpering from Central Bankers that confidence is returning in their currencies, the US dollar will remain the currency of choice.

ENDS

(Editorial from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Dollarisation grows in Georgia

MARCH 25 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Georgian Central Bank said the dollarisation of Georgia’s economy continued to rise in February, as US dollar deposits grew to 68.4% of the total, the highest level since October 2010. A high dollarisation of deposits suggests that bank customers’ trust in the local currency in waning.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Azerbaijani econ. data shows woes

MARCH 31 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Data on economic activity in Azerbaijan showed a sharp slowdown after the government abandoned the currency peg to the US dollar in December, a move that triggered a 30% drop in the value of the manat currency.

Azerbaijan imported markedly less wheat and cars, both good indicators of domestic demand.

In January, imports of wheat fell by 55.8% to 47.95m tonnes, as businesses found it increasingly more difficult to pay for their orders in foreign currency.

Total car imports in January and February this year were just 821 units, barely a tenth of the total during the same period in 2015.

Also, Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee said that the country had generated 6.4% less power in the first two months of the year compared to the same period last year. Thermal power production, Azerbaijan’s main source of electricity, was down nearly 8%, suggesting that demand from consumers and businesses had dropped — another indicator of the sharp economic downturn.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kyrgyz CBank injects more som

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz Central Bank continues to buy US dollars in the currency market because demand for foreign currency is shrinking and, the Bank’s chief Tolkunbek Abdygulov told a press conference, people and businesses need improved som liquidity. The Central Bank bought around $62m in March.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Remittances to Georgia fall, again

MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances to Georgia fell again in February to $79.9m, a 2.6% decline on the year. Notably, money transfers from Russia and Greece continued to decline sharply while remittances from Italy, the US and Israel showed positive growth. As transfers from Greece have dramatically declined to around $8.5- $9.5m/month, Italy now ranks second behind Russia in the ranking of countries sending money to Georgia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)

Azerbaijan issues $1b Eurobond for gas pipelines

MARCH 24 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s finance ministry issued a $1b 10-year Eurobond to fund the Southern Gas Corridor company which is building an energy transport route between the Caspian Sea and Europe.

The initial yield on the debt was 7%.

Analysts have said that the rare debt issue for such a high-profile

Azerbaijani energy project is another indication of just how heavily the economic downturn has impacted finances.

The Southern Gas Corridor is a state-owned company in charge of the design and construction of pipelines that will send gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe by 2019. These include TANAP, which will run across Turkey and TAP, which will link Greece to Italy.

The EU considers the project to be a priority for its energy security strategy as it reduces its reliance on Russia for gas. Azerbaijan is hoping to give its gas sector a major lift with the EU as a key client.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 273, published on March 25 2016)