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The Regions This Week
March 9, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 8
Eurasia
Huge queues of Iranians were lining up before dawn in Tehran’s Ferdowsi Square — centre of Iran’s foreign currency trading — as they sought to get their hands on hard currency in advance of the upcoming Persian New Year holidays. Anxiety grew about the apparent evaporation of much
of the country’s dollar supply after central bank and police action against informal market money traders after a sharp devaluation of the rial. Several dealers have been officially designated to sell the dollar at a fixed rate of IRR44,600.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced a “Five Social Initiatives” programme. It includes tax breaks for low-income workers, lower mortgage rates, expanded business microloans, increased access to natural gas and greater access to education. In 2016, countrywide protests demonstrated to Kazakh authorities the importance of measures to head off riots.
Bilateral trade between Iran and the EU expanded 52% y/y to €21bn in the first 10 months of the current Persian year (ends March 20), thanks to several large deals including automotive, oil and gas agreements. In the full year of 2017, the EU28 member states exported goods valued at €10.8bn to Iran, up 32% y/y.
A US federal judge's ruling that American aircraft manufacturing giant Boeing must produce its $16bn contract with IranAir does not pose a problem for Iran's flag carrier, IranAir's CEO Farzaneh Sharafbafi said. The disclosure request was granted to plaintiffs who are seeking to collect on judgements made in the US against Iran in relation to terrorist attacks in the Middle East.
Kazakhstan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 0.25pp to 9.5%, saying a slowdown in prices might cause it to miss its inflation target. Last year, the tenge hit its lowest level in 11 months on October 6, reaching KZT345 against the greenback, but it recovered to KZT321.26 as of March 5.
Kazakhstan’s recently launched Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) expects the government to issue Islamic bonds, or Sukuk, within months. There have been official hints the issuance could amount to $300mn overall in 2018. Kazakhstan also plans to develop rules for Islamic insurers and a fund for Islamic endowments.
The Armenian parliament voted in Armen Sarkissian as Armenia’s next president. A former physics professor at Cambridge and a longstanding ambassador to the UK, Sarkissian ran unopposed and has no political affiliation, but was endorsed for the post by outgoing President Serzh Sargsyan (no relation) and the ruling Republican Party (HHK).
Recent restrictions introduced on drug sales in Armenia have prompted confusion and long queues at pharmacies. The sale of over-the- counter antibiotics, hormone therapy drugs
and painkillers with codeine were banned in an effort to stamp out Armenians' proclivity to self- medicate.
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili reassured the EU, Germany and Sweden that his country would do more to address waves of Georgian asylum seekers making their way to the European bloc. An EU-Georgia visa waiver went into force in March 2017. The number
of Georgians applying for asylum in Germany and Sweden has since skyrocketed. Criticism
of Georgian migrants has become increasingly loud in Germany.
Tajikistan’s national debt reached 51.4% of
GDP as of end-2017, amounting to $770mn.
The domestic debt-to-GDP ratio stood at 11.1%. Central Asia's poorest nation raised $500mn from its inaugural international bond priced at 7.125% for a 10-year term last September.