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Weekly Lists
December 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 30
bne:Credit
Russia's finance ministry tightens controls over regional spending and debt raising
Fitch holds Turkey rating at BB with negative outlook
Russia's finance ministry will introduce tighter controls over spending and the debt raising activity of the regional governments, Vedomosti daily reported on December 12 citing unnamed federal government sources familiar with a bill drafted by the ministry.
Reportedly, the bill aims to cut the maximum spending on debt servicing by regions from 15% to 10% of total regional spending and to limit annual debt servicing and repayment cost to 20% of total regional revenues. In several regions debt servicing has risen to over 60% of their expenditure in recent years.
In mid-December 2017, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov complained that the regions had hidden their budget problems for years, most vigorously pointing a finger at Mordovia and Khakassia.
Fitch Ratings on December 14 affirmed Turkey's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at 'BB' with a negative outlook.
“Turkey is navigating the fallout from a sharp depreciation of the lira earlier in the year. Currency weakness stemmed from the materialisation of external financing vulnerabilities, aggravated by political and geopolitical developments, all areas of weakness for the sovereign credit profile,” the ratings company reiterated in an accompanying statement.
According to Fitch, the slowdown will challenge a longstanding commitment to fiscal discipline. “Turkey is set for a prolonged period of below trend growth against a backdrop of tight domestic policy settings and tough external conditions, it added.
Uzbekistan has agreed deals to receive loans worth $2.3bn for its gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant project.
Agreements have been struck with 11 banks from Japan, China, South Korea, Russia and western countries.
The $3.7bn GTL plant, set to be launched in 2020, will allow Uzbeki- stan to annually process 3.6bn cubic metres of its natural gas into fuels. The country currently relies on imported fuels, such as diesel, due to declining crude oil output and insufficient refinery capacity.
The lenders include Credit Suisse, China Development Bank, Rus- sia's Exiar, Korea's Eximbank, KSure, and Woori Bank, as well as Japan's MUFG, Mizuho, and SMBC.
Uzbekistan to receive $2.3bn in loans for gas-to-liquids project