JAN. 8 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajikistan’s security services are constructing a new base on the border with Afghanistan to oppose an apparent build-up of Taliban forces, media reported. Central Asian government have worried that the Taliban is preparing an assault once NATO leaves Afghanistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)
JAN. 13 2015 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s Gazprom has given up searching for oil in two of its four exploration blocks in Tajikistan, media reported. Interfax, a Russian news agency, said that Gazprom had been working since 2003 on the projects. It still plans to explore its two remaining blocks. Tajikistan has said that it hopes a major oil and gas discovery will boost its economic prospects.
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(News report from Issue No. 214, published on Jan. 14 2015)
>>Central Bank has already increased interest rates this year>>
DEC. 29 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — Inflation in Tajikistan jumped to over 7% in 2014, the Central Bank said, around double the rate in 2013.
The final figures for the year are not yet out but the Central Bank said annualised inflation up to the end of November had been 6.8% and that this would creep up again when December’s data was analysed.
Tajikistan raised its interest rates in October to 6.9%, its highest level since 2012, up from 4.8% earlier in the year, to try and steady its economy against rising inflation.
With remittances from Russia, which contribute to around 50% of GDP, dropping because of a slowdown in the Russian economy, Tajikistan is facing up to an increasingly tough time.
News that inflation is rising just adds to the headache.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
JAN. 5 2015, (The Conway Bulletin) — Tajik militants fighting for the radical Islamic group IS in Syria have reportedly said they want to return home to attack Tajikistan. This is Central Asian leaders’ worst nightmare. They fear radicalised and battle-hardened Islamic fighters will return to fight in their home countries.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
JAN. 6 2015, (The Conway Bulletin) — A Sheraton hotel, owned by the Starwood Hotels & Resorts brand, has opened in Dushanbe, media reported. Dushanbe is undergoing something of a hotel boom in recent years with several major chains opening in the Tajik capital.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
DEC. 19 2014, (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Khujand, north Tajikistan, convicted 11 men of belonging to the banned militant group Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Alongside the growing lure of the radical group IS, the governments of Central Asia fear signs that the IMU is gaining momentum. It has launched attacks previously in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
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(News report from Issue No. 213, published on Jan. 7 2015)
DEC. 3 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prosecutors in Tajikistan said they had arrested 46 men who were planning to travel to Syria to fight for the radical group Islamic State, media reported. Officials in Tajikistan have previously said that 300 Tajiks are fighting with Islamic State.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Remittances from Russia have declined by around 6%, the head of the Tajik Central Bank, Abdujabbor Shirinov, told the IMF. Western media groups and analysts have said that the decline in income from Tajiks working in Russia and sending cash back home — a vital funding flow — had been greater.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 8 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Tajikistan continues to attempt to increase its appeal to investors, even as its investment climate looks difficult — some would say too difficult — to all but the state-affiliated companies of its political allies.
During a recent meeting with UN Secretary-General for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Mukhisa Kituyiin in Geneva, Tajik Foreign Minister Sirodzhiddin Aslov asked UNCTAD to conduct an independent study of the country’s investment policies.
With the country’s debt at $2b according to the ministry of finance, the need for a foreign capital injection is clear. Tajikistan’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business study is 167th of 189 countries with lousy scores for categories such as ‘paying taxes’ and ‘getting electricity’. Both local and foreign businessmen complain of state corruption.
Tajikistan has also applied for a sovereign credit rating for 2015. When the agencies release their verdicts next year, it could make for interesting reading.
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(News report from Issue No. 212, published on Dec. 10 2014)
DEC. 2 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – A sharp downturn in Russia’s economy has squeezed migrants, particularly from Tajikistan which is so heavily dependent on remittances, Reuters reported. Reuters highlighted one migrant worker who said that he had been paid 25,000 roubles ($536) a month but that this had been cut to 15,000 roubles.
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(News report from Issue No. 211, published on Dec. 3 2014)