Page 7 - bneMag Dec22

bne December 2022 Companies & Markets I 7
The rise in sales of Chinese cars in Kazakhstan began even before Russia invaded Ukraine.
Chinese brands accounted for 3.4% of new cars sold in Kazakhstan in 2021, or more than 4,000 units, double the figure from the previous year.
Chery has done particularly well since entering a distribution agreement with Astana Motors last year, quickly becoming one of Kazakhstan’s top 10 selling brands.
In September Chery sales increased more than any other brand, the AKAB said, propelling it into fifth place for sales. JAC was in sixth place.
“The six Chinese car brands represented in Kazakhstan sold almost 5,000 in the eight months of 2022,” Astana Motors said last month. The figure has already outstripped last year’s total sales.
During a visit to Kazakhstan by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September, Astana Motors signed an agreement on
construction of a factory to produce cars under the Chery, Changan and Haval brands, which it already distributes.
After it comes onstream in 2025, the plant in the Almaty industrial zone will have a production capacity of 90,000 cars per year, of which 60% will go for export to post-Soviet countries.
Russia’s Lada, always popular in Kazakhstan, still occupied sixth place for sales last month – but they were down 55%.
As for performance since the start of the year, Lada ranks fifth, with Chery and JAC snapping at its heels in sixth and seventh place, respectively.
Joanna Lillis is a journalist based in Almaty and author of Dark Shadows: Inside the Secret World of Kazakhstan.
This article originally appeared on Eurasianet.
IMF reaches agreement with Armenia on $165mn stand-by loan
Ani Mejlumyan in Yerevan
International Monetary Fund staff have reached an agreement with Armenia on a $165.6mn, three-year precautionary standby lending arrangement, the IMF said on November 2.
It said the three-year deal would support the Armenian government's economic programme to preserve macroeconomic, fiscal, and financial stability while moving forward with reforms aimed at promoting inclusive growth.
"Guided by sound macroeconomic policies amid significant global and regional challenges, Armenia is on course to achieve growth of about 11% in 2022, in part driven by large inflows of external income, capital, and labour into the country. Fiscal overperformance and dram appreciation have contributed to
a significant decline in public debt, which is expected to drop to 51% of GDP this year from 60.3% of GDP in 2021. While inflation has temporarily increased on the back of supply and demand shocks, the Central Bank of Armenia has proactively raised the policy rate by 625 basis points since December 2020, aiming to steer inflation toward its medium-term target of 4%. International reserves have risen, while the dram has appreciated strongly in the past few months. Important structural reforms have occurred in public financial management, revenue administration, the inflation targeting framework, the financial sector, and governance," reads the statement.
"Economic growth is expected to decelerate in 2023, reflecting weaker external demand and tighter global financial conditions, and to remain in the 4-5% range over the medium term. CPI inflation is to gradually converge to the CBA's (Central Bank of Armenia) target over the medium term, supported by tight monetary policy and as the impact of external shocks wane," said IMF.
"The current monetary policy stance is appropriate, and further policy changes should remain dependent on the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations. Efforts
The IMF said the agreement with Armenia is subject to approval by its executive board, which is expected to consider it next month. / bne IntelliNews
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