Tag Archives: interest rates

Kyrgyz Central Bank keeps rate unchanged

SEPT. 26 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Citing falling prices and signs that the economy is beginning to grow again, Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank kept interest rates unchanged at 6%. The Central Bank said that only by keeping rates at 6% will it be able to let prices increase gently, within a 5-7% corridor. This year, the Central Bank has reduced interest rates twice from a level of 10% in January.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Armenia’s C Bank cuts interest rates

SEPT. 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s Central Bank cut interest rates by 50 basis points to 6.75%, in an effort to combat deflation. The Bank said that after a positive first half, the economy slowed significantly in Q3. This is the sixth time this year that the Central Bank has cut interest rates. At the beginning of 2016, interest rates stood at 8.75%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 298, published on Sept. 30 2016)

Georgia’s Central Bank cuts interest rates

SEPT. 7 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 6.5%, the fourth rate cut in five months. The Central Bank has said it wants to lower interest rates further to prop up economic activity. In April, before the first cut, Georgia’s key interest rate stood at 8%. Georgian interest rates have yoyoed from 4% for most of 2014, climbing sharply to 8% before being lowered.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Azerbaijan raises interest rates to 8-year high

SEPT. 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate to 15% from 9.5%, its highest level since 2008, to try to boost confidence in the ailing currency.

The manat has been falling in value for weeks, hitting an all-time low of 1.67/$1 on Friday, setting off fears of another currency crisis. Last year, the Central Bank devalued its currency twice, undermining confidence and wiping out people’s manat-based savings. A series of protests across the country against the worsening economic conditions, almost unprecedented in Azerbaijan, unnerved the Azerbaijani leadership.

The currency had been gaining in value this year until the end of May when it began to slip again. The manat has now lost 11% of its value since May 30.

The day before, the Azerbaijani Central Bank had sold $100m to try to prop up its currency.

Last week, Bloomberg News reported that local banks and exchange bureaus had suspended sales of foreign currencies due to the high demand.

Ratings agency Moody’s said the government should change regulations on capital controls brought in earlier this year.

“The restrictions on foreign-currency sales have led to the emergence of a parallel exchange market, which in our view speaks to the challenges the central bank faces to stem dollar demand and elevates risks of an accelerated depreciation in the official exchange rate,” Moody’s analysts said in a report.

Low oil prices have hit Azerbaijan’s economy hard over the past two years. Azerbaijan ‘s economy is particularly dependent on oil revenues as it generates around 3/4 of its income.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 295, published on Sept. 9 2016)

Armenia’s CBank cuts interest rates

AUG. 16 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 7.25% from 7.5% to help counter falling consumer prices, the lowest rate since 2014. Annualised deflation in Armenia measured 1.3% at the end of July, the Central Bank said, a trend that would continue.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 293, published on Aug. 29 2016)

Azerbaijan’s CBank raises interest rates to 9.5%

AUG. 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate to 9.5% from 7%, its highest level since 2008, in an effort to bolster its currency.

Azerbaijan’s economy is based on oil, meaning that a fall in prices has hit its economy hard. Analysts have predicted a recession this year, the first since the 1990s.

The manat currency was devalued twice last year. It had been strengthening throughout 2016 but has lost around 10% of its value since June and is, according to Bloomberg, now one of the five worst performing currencies. The Central Bank increased its key interest rate to 5% from 3% in February.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 292, published on Aug. 12 2016)

Georgia’s Central Bank to cut interest rate

JULY 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank said on Wednesday it cut its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.75%. The decision is in line with the Bank’s policy of containing inflation while reducing the rate to within a 5% – 6% corridor in the short term. Since April, the Bank has cut interest rates three times from the previous level of 8%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 291, published on Aug. 1 2016)

Tajikistan’s Central Bank increases interest rate

JULY 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate by two percentage points to 11%, its highest since 2009. It had kept the interest rate constant at 8% for over one year until March, when it was raised to 9%. The Central Bank said the move is in line with a policy to combat inflation and restore confidence in the country’s ailing banking sector.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 290, published on July 22 2016)

Kazakh C. Bank cuts interest rates

JULY 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank lowered its key interest rate by two percentage points to 13%, official media reported. The Central Bank cited higher oil prices, slowing inflation and the volatility in global markets after Britain’s referendum to leave the EU as the main factors leading to the rate cut. This is the second rate cut in just over two months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 289, published on July 15 2016)

Armenia’s CB cuts interest rates

JUNE 28 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate to 7.5% from 7.75% because of continued deflationary pressure on its economy. Armenia’s interest rate is now at its lowest level for 18 months. It had aggressively increased its interest rate to prop up its currency. Now prices are falling and the economy is slowing, forcing the Central Bank to try to stimulate business and economy activity.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 287, published on July 1 2016)