Page 27 - bne_newspaper_November_02_2018

Weekly Lists
November 2, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
bne:Credit
Turkmen elite buy up luxury housing in bid to protect capital amid devaluation
Turkmen government officials and wealthy entrepreneurs are buying up new elite residential property in the “Olympic village”
of Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat in a bid to protect their capital by investing in real estate amid the ongoing depreciation of the country's currency, opposition-run and foreign-based news website Chronicles of Turkmenistan has reported.
Apartments cost from TMT780,000 to TMT1.3mn, which amounts to $223,000-$376,000 at the official rate of the Turkmen manat, but stands at $39,000-$66,000 at the black market rate.
In the wake of the slump of world oil prices that hit Turkmenistan’s economy and drained government coffers, the divergence
between the official and black market rates of the Turkmen manat has widened significantly. Despite the recovery in hydrocarbon prices, Turkmenistan is said to be facing a dire financial crisis, which has even led to passport-based bread rationing.
Turkey’s foreign trade deficit shrank by 93% y/y to $529mn in October, marking the lowest monthly shortfall registered since the country’s 2001 economic crisis and coming in the wake of the 77% y/y plunge recorded in September, preliminary customs ministry data showed on November 1.
“The slowdown [across Emerging Europe] will be most dramatic in Turkey,” Capital Economics said on October 31 in its latest Emerging Europe economic outlook report.
It added: “The currency crisis in [Turkey] in August has pushed infla- tion up to a 15-year high. It is likely to remain around current levels for the next year, continuing to squeeze households’ real incomes.”
Belarus expects to receive the seventh and final loan tranche from the Russia-led Eurasian Fund for Stabilisation and Development (EFSD) in the first quarter of 2019, the nation's Finance Minister Maksim Yermolovich said on October 31.
In October, the EFSD allocated a $200mn support tranche to Belarus from the lender's $2bn loan agreed with Minsk in 2016. The EFSD's move seems to be purely political, as Belarus failed to meet benchmarks in five out of 25 indicators (including three control indicators) by the initial deadline of October 1, 2017, according to the lender.
Turkey’s foreign trade gap closes to lowest level since 2001 economic crisis
Belarus seeks new support tranche from Russia-led bail-out fund in January-March 2019