Tag Archives: inflation

House prices still fall in Kyrgyzstan

APRIL 28 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — House prices in Kazakhstan are continuing to fall, an indication that the economy is still struggling to pull out of a deep slump linked to the collapse in oil prices since mid- 2014. The price tracking website homsters.kz said that only in Almaty were prices beginning to recover. The housing market fell sharply after a 50% cut in the value of the tenge in 2015.

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(News report from Issue No. 327, published on May 5 2017)

Inflation slows in Georgia

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APRIL 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Price inflation in Georgia measured 0.5% in March, Geostats said, a sharp fall from 1.7% in February. The fall pushed overall annualised inflation down slightly to 5.4% in March from 5.5% in February. The Central Bank has said it is targeting overall inflation for 2017 of around 4%. Like the rest of the region, Georgia is recovering from a sharp economic downturn linked to a recession in Russia.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Rates kept steady, prices rise in Armenia

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APRIL 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 6% because inflation was rebounding (March 28). It said that for the 12 months to the end of March inflation measured minus 0.2% but that it was confident that this would rise to plus 4% by the end of the year. The impact of a recent economic slowdown on Armenia has been to push prices down. In an interview with Reuters, Central Bank chief Arthur Javadyan said that it would simply be too risky for the Central Bank to cut interest rates any further. In August 2015, Armenia’s key interest rate had measured 10.5%.

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(News report from Issue No. 323, published on April 6 2017)

Economic activity picks up in Armenia but deflation lingers

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YEREVAN, MARCH 27 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s economic activity barometer, considered to be a key indicator of future growth, increased by 6.2% in the first two months of the year compared to the same period in 2016, the National Statistics Agency said (March 20).

The data comes at just the right time for the ruling Republican Party which is looking to increase it support among voters ahead of a parliamentary election on April 2.

The growth in economic activity, though, was uneven. The growth came in industry and services. Agri- culture was stagnant and the important construction sector fell by 13.8%.

Armenia’s economy has been limping along since 2015 and deflationary pressure has become a major concern for policy makers. Over January and February, the statistics agency said that deflation had measured 0.4%.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Uzbek authorities crackdown on money changers

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MARCH 21 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — The authorities in Uzbekistan are trying to crackdown on Black Market money changers, the Eurasianet website reported. It described a raid by both undercover and uniformed police on money changers outside a major Tashkent supermarket. Under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, in power since September, the Uzbek authorities have managed a careful devaluation of the som currency. The crackdown on the once thriving som Black Market, appears designed to coincide with this devaluation.

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(News report from Issue No. 322, published on March 27 2017)

Inflation at correct level, says Kazakh Central Bank chief

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MARCH 13 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakh Central Bank chief Daniyer Akishev said that he wanted to target inflation of 6-8% by the end of the year. It currently measures 7.8% which is down from a recent high of 17.7% in July 2016. Kazakhstan’s economy has stabilised after falling heavily in the previous couple of years, a drop linked to the fall in oil prices and tenge weakness.

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(News report from Issue No. 321, published on March 20 2017)f

Uzbek Central Bank issues new banknote

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MARCH 10 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank printed its first 10,000 som banknote, an official nod, perhaps, to high levels of inflation and the falling value of its currency. At today’s official exchange rate of 3,453/$1, the new note will be worth just under $3. The Central Bank introduced the 5,000 som banknote in 2013 and the 1,000 som banknote in 2001. Uzbekistan’s economy has been under pressure, pushing up inflation and devaluing its currency. The som has fallen by 13% since August.

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(News report from Issue No. 320, published on March 13 2017)

Deflation slows in Armenia

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MARCH 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Deflation in Armenia continued to slow in January, just as the Central Bank said it would earlier in the year. The National Statistics Service said that prices dropped by an average of 0.2% in February compared to the same period in 2016. In January, year-on-year deflation had measured -0.6% and in February 2016 it had measured -1.7%.

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(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)

Inflation starts to climb in Georgia

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MARCH 3 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Prices in Georgia were 5.5% higher in February 2017 compared to the same month in 2016, the State Statistics Service said, confirming Central Bank predictions of inflation pressure when it raised interest rates last month (March 2). It had set an inflation target of 4% in 2017.

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(News report from Issue No. 319, published on March 3 2017)

Kazakhstan cuts interest rates as economy improves

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ALMATY, FEB. 20 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by one percentage point to 11%, its lowest level since it introduced its this key rate in September 2015, and delivered one of its most upbeat assessments of the economy for years.

Central Bank chief Daniyer Akishev said that improved global economic outlook, a rise in oil prices and a slowdown in inflation had allowed him to cut the rate. At the beginning of last year, Kazakhstan’s interest rate had measured 17%.

Both the rate cut and the renewed confidence in the economy will be a relief to investors and to ordinary Kazakhs who have had to deal with an avalanche of grim economic data since oil prices collapsed in mid-2014.

“We took into account the positive impact of external factors. Sustainable world oil prices above $50 per barrel, improving global eco- nomic prospects and moderate inflationary background in our trading partners,” Mr Akishev told journalists.

“Among internal factors there has been a significant slowdown in inflation, which creates lower inflationary and devaluation expectations amongst people, as well as the ongoing de-dollarisation of bank deposits.”

Inflation had been a major worry after the tenge devalued by 50% in 2015. It had started to rise fast last year but has since slowed and the Kazakh Central Bank said that it would ease to between 6.5% and 7% this year from 8.5% last year (Feb. 22). The Central Bank also said that inflation in 2018 could drop as low as 5%.

The Kazakh economy is the biggest in Central Asia and is an important driver of regional economic growth.

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(News report from Issue No. 318, published on Feb.24 2017)