Tag Archives: interest rates

Georgia’s C.Bank cuts rates

JUNE 15 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 7% to combat slowing inflation. In April, the Central Bank cut its key rate for the first time in three years to 7.5% from 8%. The Central Bank has said that it wants to push its interest rate down to around 5% – 6%, described as the country’ neutral rate, after raising it last year to defend its lari currency.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 285, published on June 17 2016)

Kyrgyz CBank cuts interest rates

MAY 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank cut interest rates late by two percentage points to 6% because it said that inflation had significantly slowed, local media reported. Annualised inflation measured 0.2% at the end of April, an indication that economic activity has slowed in Kyrgyzstan. The Central Bank has also kept the som-US dollar exchange rate below 70/1 for two months.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 283, published on June 3 2016)

Armenian C Bank cuts interest rate

MAY 17 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by half a percentage point to 7.75%, its lowest rate since November 2014, as it tried to counter sharply falling prices. Annualised inflation at the end of April measured minus 1.9%, the Central Bank said last week. It has steadily lowered interest rates from a high of 10.5% in July 2015.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 281, published on May 20 2016)

Kazakhstan’s CBank cuts interest rate as inflation begins to slow

MAY 5 2016, ALMATY (The Conway Bulletin) — Kazakhstan’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate by two percentage points to 15% because it said that inflation was slowing and the overall economic outlook was improving.

The consumer price index grew in April to an annualised rate of 16.3%, its highest since 2009, but the Central Bank said that the pace of inflation had slowed.

“Seasonally adjusted, annualised month-on-month inflation for each of the last three months was within the target range for the annual inflation set between 6% and 8%,” the Central Bank said in a statement linked to its rate change.

“A survey of households also showed that expectations of inflation have subsided as well.”

After months of poor economic data and a 50% devaluation of the tenge currency, any prognosis on Kazakhstan’s economy which is even vaguely positive will be seized upon and lauded. This is the first time in months that Kazakhstan’s Central Bank has shown confidence in its ability to control the money market, a sign that the worst period of a regional economic downturn might be over.

Still, the Central Bank did add a large dash of caution to its outlook.

It said that a potential downside risk to the economy was the “increased tenge-denominated high interest rate liabilities” held by commercial banks, which could put pressure on the financial sector. This is, essentially, a reference to bad loans.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 279, published on May 6 2016)

Georgia cuts interest rate for the first time in 3 years

TBILISI, APRIL 27 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia’s Central Bank cut its key interest rate for the first time in three years, performing a policy U-turn designed to boost its flagging economy.

It cut its key refinancing rate by 50 basis points to 7.5%, having steadily raised it from 4% throughout 2015. It said this was the first step towards a rate of around 5 or 6%.

“The Monetary Policy Committee considers it necessary to start phasing out the tight monetary policy, which means the gradual reduction of the refinancing rate down to the neutral level in the medium-term,” the Central Bank said in a statement.

“The rate of further monetary policy softening will depend on the revised inflation forecasts.”

In March, annualised inflation fell to 4.1% from 5.6% in February.

The Central Bank also dropped the lari-denominated minimum capital requirements for its commercial banks from 10% to 7% and increased the US dollar-denominated requirements.

It did this to try to push more lari into circulation and to take the US dollar off the market.

Alongside the less-than-rosy economic news, the Central Bank said that there had been signs of improved economic activity, especially in construction, but that high interest rates and other issues were a brake on potential growth.

“Another factor keeping the economic growth low is the negative impact of the economic situation in Georgia’s trade partners, reflected in the decrease of remittances and weakening of external demand,” it said.

Russia and Greece have traditionally been Georgia’s main source of remittances. Russia is currently in a recession linked to low global oil prices and Western imposed sanctions. Greece’s economy remains in recovery-mode after the impact of the 2008/9 Global Financial Crisis.

Like inflation, GDP growth has also been sluggish. The Statistics Committee said GDP grew by 2.3% in Q1, one percentage point slower than the expectations. The Central Bank expects 3% GDP growth in 2016.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 278, published on April 29 2016)

Armenian CBank cuts rates

MARCH 30 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Armenian Central Bank said it cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point to 8.25%, just over a month after the previous rate cut. The Bank said this is in line with the policy of easing the cost of borrowing and other monetary instruments. Economic activity in the country is shrinking and the Central Bank wants to boost it gradually by cutting rates.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 2016)

Kyrgyz CBank cuts rates

MARCH 29 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kyrgyzstan’s Central Bank cut interest rates on Tuesday by two percentage points to 8%, in an effort to boost the domestic economy, official media said. At the beginning of March, Central Bank chief Tolkunbek Abdygulov had said interest rates would have remained steady at 10%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 274, published on April 1 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)

Georgian Central Bank keeps rates steady

MARCH 9 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s Central Bank kept interest rates steady at 8%, saying that inflation was due to slow and dip into its target zone. Like the rest of the region, Georgia has been increasingly worried about inflation pressure building up in its economy. Prices and salaries have been rising as the value of the lari has fallen. Overall inflation in February was 5.6%.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)

Interest rates rise in Azerbaijan

MARCH 4 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s Central Bank raised its key interest rate to 7% from 5% to support its manat currency, the second interest rate increase in less than a month. It increased rates on Feb. 15 to 5% from 3%. The manat currency has lost 50% of its value in the past year. This is the highest rate since 2009.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 271, published on March 11 2016)