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The Regions This Week
January 19, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eurasia
All 32 crew members aboard Iranian oil tanker
Sanchi were lost after the vessel, carrying con- densate, was set ablaze before sinking in the East China Sea, having collided with a bulk carier. A slick subsequently spread over around 100 square kilometres.
Iran’s centrist President Hassan Rouhani has
failed to effectively challenge repressive ele- ments in the Islamic Republic’s regime since
he was re-elected in May last year or deliver the greater freedoms he has promised since first be- ing elected in 2013, the Freedom House watchdog said in its annual freedom rankings.
Iranian government advisor Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht, head of the Planning and Budget Or- ganisation of Iran, said ministers are expecting economic growth of 8% in the 2018/19 Persian calendar year (starts March 21). That jarred with the 4.0% anticipated for Iran in 2018 in the latest World Bank forecasting.
Hardline Iranian MP Ali Haji-Deligani claimed more than 100 of Iran’s top officials are holders of US permanent residency green cards. He ac- cused Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif of negligence when it comes to the issue. It is known that Zarif, who spent several years in the US working for the Iranian mission at the UN, has children who are American citizens working in the US.
Iran and India signed a deal worth around €1.4bnbn to develop rail infrastructure linking Chabahar port to Zahedan, located at the tripoint of the Iranian, Afghan and Pakistani borders. In- dian production of locomotives and freight cars for the route, worth around €0.6bn, was also agreed. India, barred from exporting to Afghanistan and Central Asian nations via Pakistan, wants to tran- sit goods to the countries via Iran.
Kazakhstan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 0.5 pp to 9.75%, surprising some market
observers as it had previously stated it was aiming to maintain the rate four percentage points above inflation, which stood at 7.1% in December.
A Karagandy court in Kazakhstan sentenced two Kazakh citizens who are members of Russia- based Union of Co-creators of the Holy Russia group, to prison for five years for inciting ethnic hatred. Russia’s annexation of Crimea has raised some fears among Kazakhs that northern Ka- zakhstan might be next in line.
Azerbaijan's 2017 GDP growth was posted at 0.1%, below the government's 1% target but above international observers’ forecasts. Recover- ing oil and gas prices in the second half of 2017 were a factor.
Some 39% of 2,298 survey respondents said Georgia was going in the wrong direction, up from 31% six months earlier. Support for join-
ing the EU was still high at 72% but down on the previous 77%. The local chapter of the US-based National Democratic Institute (NDI) conducted the poll.
Kyrgyzstan’s economic growth reached 4.5% y/y in 2017, compared to 2016’s 3.8% y/y. Domestic demand firmed on recovering remittances from Russia, which account for around a third of Kyrgyz GDP.
Tajikistan’s aluminium exports stood at 103,000 tonnes in 2017, down 22% y/y. State-owned Ta- jikistan Aluminium Company (TALCO) saw lower production on decreasing aluminium prices and declining international demand.
The GlobUz payment system and Asia Alliance Bank launched Uzbekistan’s first ATM for cur- rency exchange. A currency liberalisation brought in last year aims to keep both foreign currency and the Uzbek sum within the country’s official economy.