Tag Archives: inflation

Utility prices to rise in Uzbekistan

SEPT. 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Uzbek government said it would increase all utility prices from Oct 1, a decision prompted by the regional economic malaise.

The state water supply company said drinking water rates would increase by 8% and hot water by 5% in Tashkent; electricity prices will increase by 8%; gas prices by 7.3%.

The announcements will pile extra pressure onto ordinary people who are already dealing with price inflation for food and petrol as well as a drop in their own spending power because of a major fall in remittances.

Data from the Russian Central Bank showed that cash sent back by Uzbek workers had halved in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2014.

Inflation has been creeping up across Uzbekistan. Earlier this month, the government said that it was going to increase public sector salaries by 10%.

Unofficial reports from Uzbekistan have said that this injection of cash into the economy has also inflated food prices by 30%.

Higher tariffs will pose especially serious challenges to the Uzbek population given the approaching winter coupled with plummeting money remittances from abroad, the increasing staples and services prices as well as anticipated shortages of fuel, gas and electricity.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Markets: Inflation rallies in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan

SEPT. 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — On inflation, the data looks worse in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, compared to other economies which have managed to keep prices flat. In the period between Jan.-Aug. 2015, prices in Armenia grew by 4.8%, in Tajikistan by 3.2%, in Azerbaijan by 3.8%, according to their statistics committees.

Despite the steady growth in consumer prices, the region’s economies are containing inflation. For a comparison, inflation in Russia reached 15% in August.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 248, published on Sept. 18 2015)

Georgia approves Tbilisi electricity price rise

SEPT. 3 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Following earlier electricity price rises in Georgia’s regions, the state regulators approved a similar price increase in the capital.

For the Georgian Dream, the ruling coalition, the price rise means they have barely been able to fulfil one of their promises from the 2012 parliamentary election – to cut the price of electricity and to keep it low.

But, as Akaki Tsomaia, economics professor at the University of Georgia explained, the plunging value of the lari had forced the regulators to agree to the price rise.

“Georgia is experiencing a 45% depreciation of its currency against the US dollar. Electricity and gas providers in Georgia have no other way than to increase the price of these services. Otherwise we will definitely have a major electricity shortage,” he told the Bulletin.

Still, this assessment, which is widely shared, didn’t stop the opposition UNM party blaming the coalition.

“The absence of professionalism led us to this point,” UNM’s deputy chairperson Nika Melia told TV broadcaster Rustavi-2.

Electricity prices have triggered protests in the region, most notably in Armenia where thousands protested earlier this year and forced the government to waive price rises.

In Georgia which is known for its street level politics, however, the population seems to have accepted the rise more quietly although some people did expect protests shortly.

Vladimir, an IT specialist walking along Tbilisi’s central promenade said: “People will probably start next month once they get bills.”

Irakli, 37, who was waiting at a bus stop, agreed but he said that politics, was the key driver of social unrest.

“We’ve taken to the streets so much in the recent two decades, but for other reasons,” he said. “But it all accumulates and only needs one non- social spark to explode.”

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Teachers in Kazakhstan to receive 50% pay rise

SEPT. 8 2015, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s government said that it would increase salaries for teachers by 20-50% depending on their qualifications, another indication that the devaluation of the tenge is spurring inflation.

Announcing the pay rise at a school in Astana, deputy PM Berdybek Saparbayev said that it showed the government cared about its workers. “We have very good news for our teachers,” media quoted him as saying. “Salaries will be increased from 20 to 50% starting from 2016.”

The Kazakh Central Bank has devalued the tenge twice since February 2014.

It is now worth around 40% less than it was before the first devaluation and economists have been warning that inflation will shoot up.

Companies have already been raising salaries and it was only a matter of time before the government put up pay for its thousands of employees.

Other key workers, such as doctors and nurses, have also been promised large tenge pay rises.

The problem for the Kazakh government is that with oil prices low and production declining, it may struggle to pay or all the rises.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

Azerbaijani C.Bank spent $1.2b in August defending manat

SEPT. 4 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s Central Bank spent nearly $1.2b defending the value of it manat currency in August despite devaluing it by a third earlier in the year.

With oil prices, the key driver of Azerbaijan’s economy, stubbornly hovering around 7-year lows, the data will add more pressure onto the currency and suggests that another devaluation may be possible. Across the Caspian Sea, oil-exporter Kazakhstan effectively devalued its currency for a second time last month after trying to defend it for over a year.

Reuters quoted a high-placed source at the Azerbaijani Central Bank as saying: “August 2015 was difficult from a financial point of view. The economies of large countries of the world declined and the price of oil also fell on world markets, which influenced the state of the manat.”

The Central Bank data showed that its reserves had fallen to $7.31b by the end of August from $8.5b at the end of July.

The South Caucasus and Central Asia region is trying to cope with a sharp decline in its economy. Suppressed oil prices and a recession in Russia have dragged down growth. Azerbaijan with its dependency on oil has suffered more than most.

The latest data means that the Azerbaijani Central Bank has spent 42% of its total reserves this year.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 247, published on Sept. 11 2015)

AvtoVAZ to increase prices in Kazakhstan

SEPT. 1 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ said it would increase prices in the Kazakh market by 3%. “The new pricing policy is due to changing macroeconomic factors and increased competition,” a company official told kapital.kz. Kazakhstan has devalued its currency and inflation is rising. This is the fourth price rise in 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Devaluation worries in Kazakh economy

SEPT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Umut Shayakhmetova, chairman of Halyk Bank, said the devaluation of the tenge last month would hit businesses hard and that the impact would be heavier than a devaluation in 2014. “It will affect the economy. Our clients will experience a drop in sales,” media quoted her as saying at a press conference.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Petrol prices to rise in Turkmenistan

SEPT. 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Media in Kyrgyzstan quoted reports from north Turkmenistan which said long queues were forming at petrol stations after rumours emerged that prices were going to rise. Petrol prices have risen across Central Asia because of a sharp fall in the value of local currencies.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Inflation in Georgia climbs to 4-year high

SEPT. 3 2015, TBILISI (The Conway Bulletin) — Rising food and utilities prices pushed up inflation in August to a year-on-year level of 5.4%, its highest level for four years Geostat, the Georgian statistics agency, said.

Analysts have been warning that the drop in the value of the Georgian lari over the past year would pressure inflation. These concerns appear to have been borne out by the data which has showed a steady increase in prices in Georgia since March.

Geostat said that food prices in Georgia rose by an average of 2% in August and utilities by 4.4%. Importantly dairy products, a staple of the Georgian diet, rose by nearly 10%.

Also, electricity prices rose by 11.4% in August, mainly due to the fall in the value of the lari. Rising electricity prices across the region have triggered discontent, especially in neighbouring Armenia where wide- spread street protests forced the government to ditch most price increases.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)

Economy grows in Georgia

AUG. 31 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s economy grew by about 3% in the 12 months to the end of July, Geostat, the Georgian statistics agency, said. Geostat said that this was roughly inline with June and above April and May’s growth rate. The economies of the South Caucasus have been struggling this year to deal with the falling rouble and low oil prices.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 246, published on Sept. 4 2015)