Tag Archives: economy

Moody downgrades Armenia’s bonds

MARCH 22 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – International ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Armenia’s government bonds to B1 from Ba3, as the economic crisis continues to bite. Moody’s said Armenia continues to be vulnerable to external factors, such as “declining remittances from Russia that have not yet bottomed out,” the agency said in a press statement. Moody’s also said the downgrade is linked to the worsening debt/GDP ratio.

ENDS

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

Armenia reforms stock exchange

MARCH 21 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian government wants to reform its stock exchange to include currencies and other forms of financial trade. In an interview with Reuters, the director of NASDAQ OMX, Konstantin Saroyan, said: “We are concerned that there are no currency operations on the stock exchange and we are trying to change our business model.” Mr Saroyan also said demand for US dollars has declined due to the economic downturn.

ENDS

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

Azerbaijan’s SOFAZ to spend big

MARCH 18 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree to set SOFAZ’s spending at 10.7b manats ($6.5m) and revenues at 4.6b manats ($2.8b) for 2016, meaning that the fund will post a loss for the second consecutive year. Assets held by SOFAZ, Azerbaijan’s sovereign wealth fund, dropped by 9.5% in 2015 to $33.6b because it paid around 8b manats ($5.16b) into the state budget to help the country weather the economic downturn.

ENDS

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

Georgia picks CBanker

MARCH 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank picked Koba Gvenetadze, a former IMF banker, to be its chief, replacing Giorgi Kadagidze whose term finished in February. The following day, President Giorgi Margvelashvili approved Mr Gvenetadze’s 7-year term at the Bank. Georgia’s economy has been under increased pressure from the falling value of the lari and rising inflation linked to a fall in oil prices and recession in Russia.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kazakh CBank keeps rate steady

MARCH 14 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank left interest rates unchanged at 17% to give the tenge currency extra support. At its monthly policy-setting meeting, the Central Bank said that supporting the currency was a higher priority than reducing the cost of borrowing. Analysts had argued that the interest rate was set too high.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kazakhstan ratifies EU trade deal

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Senate ratified a trade deal with the European Union which Kazakh foreign minister Yerlan Idrissov said had far reaching implications. Mr Idrissov said: “The most important part of the new treaty is the trade section, which offers additional guarantees of stability to our European partners and will help raise Kazakhstan’s investment appeal.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Uzbekistan raises gas prices

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Uzbekistan has approved gas price increases of 8.2% for its population from April 1, the second price rise in six months.

Utility prices across the region have been increasing over the past couple of years as local currencies have devalued and overall inflation has accelerated.

But they are still sensitive, emotive issues.

Gas and electricity have always been subsidised in the former Soviet Union, so people generally resent increases.

In October, the authorities raised gas prices by 7.2%. This time, other utilities will also rise in Uzbekistan, the government said.

The price of cold water will rise by 5.7%, central heating and hot water by 9% and electricity by 8.9%. Last year in Armenia, proposed electricity price rises triggered street demonstrations that forced the government to back down from increasing prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kazakhstan reveals Q4 GDP growth

MARCH 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s economy grew by 1.2% in Q4 2015, the same rate as in Q3, official data showed. Like the rest of the region, Kazakhstan’s economy has been under increasing pressure from a worsening economic outlook. Last year Q1 GDP growth measured 2.3% and Q2 1.7%. This year the government has predicted growth of just 0.5%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

Kyrgyzstan’s GDP drops

MARCH 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s GDP was 7.8% lower in the first two months of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, the country’s statistics agency said. The drop was linked to a sharp fall in gold exports which make up the bulk of Kyrgyzstan’s exports. Gold and silver production was down over 50%, it said. The data shows just how vulnerable Kyrgyzstan is to fluctuations in its core export.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)

EBRD to help Armenia develop currency markets

MARCH 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), one of the biggest investors in the former Soviet region, signed a deal with Armenia’s Central Bank to help it develop dram-listed capital markets, to improve Armenia’s image as a reliable financial market.

The agreement is part of EBRD’s Local Currency Programme (LCP), which is also aimed at Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

“The EBRD provides local currency loans through procuring local currency funding or hedging, by entering into currency swaps with third party providers, such as the Currency Exchange Fund,” the EBRD said in a statement.

It’s been one of the EBRD’s stated aims to develop markets and financial tools which support local tools and reduce the dollarisation of economies.

“Expanding the availability of local currency financing is crucial for the growth of local businesses by providing them with fund at affordable rates and manageable risk,” Andre Kuusvek, EBRD director at the LCP said in a statement.

Strengthening and protecting local currencies has become especially important after the drop in oil prices globally exposed their vulnerabilities.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 272, published on March 18 2016)