Tag Archives: inflation

Inflation worries Georgia’s Central Bank

JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prices manufacturers in Georgia are paying to produce their goods are rising at the fastest rate since 2011, the national statistics agency said, sparking concern that underlying inflation may also be accelerating.

Georgia’s Central Bank has said it wants to fight off the effects of regional economic turmoil and the falling value of its lari currency and keep inflation under control.

But Geostat, the Georgian statistics agency, said its Producer Price Index (PPI) rose by 0.8% in May from April, registering an increase of 9% from May 2014.

“Manufacturing prices increased 11.1% contributing 9.05 percentage points to the overall index growth,” Geostat said of the PPI growth rate figures.

“The prices mainly increased for manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco products (16.9%), manufacture of paper and publishing (30.4%) and manufacture of basic metals and fabricated metal products (4.0%).”

The 9% year-on-year increase in May was the highest inflation in prices paid by producers since 2011 when the economies were recovering from the 2008/9 global financial crisis and price inflation was a major concern. Now inflation, triggered by a falling lari, is once again a headache that the Central Bank has to confront.

The lari has lost around 20% of its value this year. The Georgian Central Bank has been putting up interest rates to try to strengthen its currency and dampen inflationary pressures.

Geostat’s Consumer Price Index measured a jump in inflation of 0.6% in May, measuring a rise to 3.5% of year-on-year inflation, its highest since September 2014.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Kyrgyzstan to face inflation

JUNE 14 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan will only see the benefits of its membership of the Kremlin-led Eurasian Economic Union in 2017, media quoted economy minister Oleg Pankratov as saying. He said inflation will initially soar in Kyrgyzstan once it joins the economic group.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Property price fall in Azerbaijan

JUNE 18 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Experts in Azerbaijan’s real estate sector are predicting a drop in house prices this year as the market reacts to a decline in economic conditions in the region, media reported. A sharp fall in oil prices and the value of the Russian rouble have hit the former Soviet region.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Fuel prices rise in Kyrgyzstan

JUNE 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Fuel prices in Kyrgyzstan are rising, media reported quoting the Kyrgyz Association of fuel traders. They said extra tax imposed by the Kyrgyz government had triggered the rise. Kyrgyzstan is also facing general inflation due to the falling value of its currency.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 236, published on June 18 2015)

Kazakhstan wants to target inflation

JUNE 5 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Oleg Smolyakov, deputy chairman of Kazakhstan’s Central Bank, said a change of monetary policy to target inflation instead of a stable exchange rate would not be possible within the next couple of years, the first sign of a row back on the high- profile strategy.

The potential row-back will disappoint businesses and international observers who have urged the Kazakh Central Bank to allow its tenge currency to float more freely.

“We believe that we cannot afford switching to inflation targeting within a time range of one to two years,” media quoted Mr Smolyakov as saying.

This is a departure from the bullish declaration by Central Bank chief Kairat Kelimbetov who said Kazakhstan would liberalise its currency market.

According to Mr Smolyakov, Kazakhstan needs more tools to switch from the current currency corridor to targeting inflation. A sharp fall in the value of the Russian rouble since last summer has pressured currencies and economies across the region.

Also, seemingly eager to smooth public concerns over a volatile currency, Mr Smolyakov said the Kazakh tenge would remain stable with oil prices over $50 per barrel.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 235, published on June 11 2015)

Electricity prices to rise in Amenia

June 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Electricity prices in Armenia will increase, media quoted Robert Nazaryan, chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, as saying, ending months of indecision. This will be the third electricity price rise in two years and triggered street protests.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 234, published on June 4 2015)

Inflation rises in Georgia

JUNE 3 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Inflation in Georgia in May rose to 3.5% from 2.5% in April, the Georgian national statistics agency said. Economists have warned that the fall in the value of the lari would spur inflation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 234, published on June 4 2015)

Kazakh Halyk Bank revealed profits

MAY 21 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Halyk Bank, Kazakhstan’s second largest bank majority owned by the daughter of Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev and her husband Timur Kulibayev, posted year-on-year profits down 29%. Costs had risen, in particular workers’ salaries. Kazakhstan devalued its currency in 2014, triggering wage inflation.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)

Kyrgyz Central Bank cuts interest rates

MAY 26 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Kyrgyz Central Bank cut its interest rate to 9.5% from 11%, the first cut since 2013, because of a slowdown in consumer price inflation.

It did warn, though, that despite a slight economic improvement, the country faced uncertain times.

“There has been economy a slowdown in inflation. At the same time, economic growth continues to be influenced by external factors,” it said in a statement on its website.

“The economic situation in the country’s main trading partners is uncertain and continues to impact the slowing economic growth of our own country through foreign trade and remittances.”

Kyrgyzstan, like the rest of the region, has been coping with a slowdown in Russia’s economy, triggered by a sharp fall in oil prices. Remittances from Kyrgyz working in Russia is a major part of Kyrgyzstan’s economy. This has dented the value of the Kyrgyz som and accelerated inflation.

Overall, the Central Bank said that inflation had slowed to 6.4% in April, down from 10.5% at the end of 2014.

The Central Bank also said that GDP growth for January to April had measured 7% because of an increase in production at Kumtor, a gold mine. Without Kumtor’s contribution, GDP growth would have measured 4.2%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 233, published on May 28 2015)

Kazakh Central Bank switches policy

MAY 15 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s Central Bank said it will switch its monetary policy from targeting rigorous exchange rate stability to prioritising hitting inflation targets. Analysts have criticised the Central Bank for being too inflexible with its exchange rate controls.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 232, published on May 20 2015)