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June 2, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
bne:Credit
Azerbaijani central bank mulls monetary easing, expects positive balance of payments
Belarus central bank to cut key rate by 1pp to 13%
The Azerbaijani central bank expects the country's balance of pay- ments to remain in surplus this year after recording a $380mn surplus in the first quarter, Trend news agency reported on May 30 citing the national lender's governor Elman Rustamov.
Oil-rich Azerbaijan has recorded deficits in the last two years as the country's large hydrocarbon-based trade surplus has dwindled on the back of the drop in oil and gas prices seen since 2014. The oil and gas trade surplus dropped from $6.55bn in the first quarter of 2015 to $4.4bn in 2016, and recovered to $5.8bn in the correspond- ing period of 2017, Rustamov added.
During a press conference, meanwhile, Rustamov added that the central bank was mulling easing its monetary policy after deciding to maintain its key rate unchanged at 15% in May.
The National Bank of Belarus (NBB) will reduce its benchmark in- terest rate by 1 percentage point (pp) to 13% on June 14, the regu- lator said on May 31.
The central bank attributed the move to "positive trends in the economy, increasing its external stability, strengthening the stability in the monetary and credit sphere". Specifically, the NBB forecasts an increase in consumer prices to a level "slightly above" 6% in an- nual terms in the coming months.
According to official data, inflation in Belarus stood at 6.3% year- on-year (vs 10.6% in December 2016) in April, while core inflation - at 6% y/y (vs 10% in December).
Kyrgyzstan attracted $814mn in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2016, marking a 47.4% annual decline, the country's national sta- tistics committee said on May 31. The agency referred to the figure as “final”. It contrasted with the sum given in earlier reports which determined that FDI amounted to $654.8mn in 2016.
The decline was ascribed to a high year-ago base with investments from Russia jumping by 640% in the first half of 2015 in line with the Kremlin's pledge of increased support for the country as part of the negotiations leading to Kyrgyzstan’s membership in the Eura- sian Economic Union (EEU). FDI in Kyrgyzstan more than doubled in 2015 in annual terms.
The decline was also caused by a 36.5% fall in FDI from China. On the other hand, the country saw an 11.1% rise in FDI inflows from neighbouring Kazakhstan.
Kyrgyzstan posts "final" FDI figure for 2016