At the end of last year, the Council of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund adopted a decision to postpone the discussion of the disbursement of the sixth tranche (US $440 million) of its credit to Belarus. The decision adopted was based on Belarus’ failure to comply with its commitments undertaken in the framework of the credit programme.
On what conditions would Belarus be able to get the last tranche of the credit disbursed? How sustainable is today’s economic stability in Belarus, which is the aim of the ACF credit programme? What exchange rate policies should be followed by Belarus in the environment of its mounting external deficit?
BelaPAN has found answers to these and other questions in an interview of Sergey Shatalov, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Eurasian Development Bank, Resources Manager of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund.
TASK FOR FIRST SIX MONTHS
Mr. Shatalov, at end-December 2013, the ACF Council adopted a decision to postpone the disbursement of the sixth tranche of its financial credit. The Belarusian side is expected to clear with the ACF Manager its new Letter of Intent and the disbursement of the sixth tranche will depend on compliance with the targets fixed therein. When can a new Letter of Intent be ready?
“The teams of the Borrower and the ACF Resources Manager started revising the targets for the sixth tranche immediately after the ACF Council adopted the decision to postpone the disbursement of the sixth tranche.
“Having drafted their Letter of Intent for 2014, our colleagues from Minsk are currently clearing its parameters with the ministries and agencies concerned. We hope that they will start the procedure of clearing the document with us in the nearest future and the new Letter of Intent will be ready for signing at the beginning of February”
Almaty, 22 January 2014. Igor Finogenov, Chairman of the Management Board at Eurasian Development Bank (EDB), is taking part in the 44th World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting, which opened today in Davos. The Forum having as its theme The Reshaping of the World: The Consequences for Society, Politics and Business brought together over 2,500 representatives of governmental authorities, businesses and public organisations from 100 countries.
This year the head of EDB is taking part in the forum in a new capacity: in January the Bank became an institutional member of this authoritative organization. “Your ideas and active participation are not only welcome but essential to achieving the Forum`s mission,” wrote Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the WEF, in his message to Igor Finogenov. He also expressed hope in that letter that the two institutions would establish close cooperation
Moscow, 17 January 2014. The Council of Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) appointed Dmitry Krasilnikov, Member of the Management Board and Managing Director for Corporate Finance at EDB, as Deputy Chairman of the Management Board.
Dmitry Krasilnikov began to work at EDB in 2006, when the Bank was being established, and has formed and headed a division, which attracted finance in the banking and debt capital markets and was responsible for interaction with banks and other financial partners of EDB
St. Petersburg. 15 January 2014. Armenia’s accession to the Customs Union (CU) and the Single Economic Space (SES) will have a positive effect on its economy. This conclusion is suggested in the report entitled Armenia and the Customs Union: Assessing the Economic Effect of Integration published by Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Centre for Integration Studies.
Quantitative analysis of the effects of Armenia’s joining the Customs Union has shown that, as a result of integration with the CU, the additional growth in Armenian GDP will approximate 4% a year. The trade effect from the reduction in the prices of Russian gas alone will constitute $140 million.
The authors of the report believe that Armenia’s integration with the CU and SES is preferable regardless of which economic development strategy the country opts for: improving the domestic demand or choosing an export orientated development. As a fully-fledged member of the Customs Union, Armenia will be in a position to effectively solve pressing socioeconomic problems and step onto the trajectory of sustainable and balanced growth.
The researchers emphasise that one of the main advantages for Armenia is getting access to the CU single labour market. The SES agreements in the area of labour migration are aimed at providing national treatment for labour migrants and ensuring an effective operation of the common labour market. A total of 85% of transfers are currently being made by labour migrants from Russia (15% of Armenia’s GDP). Armenia’s accession to the SES agreements will lead to an increase in remittances by US $40 million a year. This will help to stably finance the trade account of the country’s balance of payments
Moscow, December 27, 2013. The Council of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) approved on December 27 the applications of the Kyrgyz Republic and Manager’s (Eurasian Development Bank) evaluation reports for two investment credits funded from ACF – «Bishkek-Osh Road Rehabilitation, Phase IV» and «Agricultural machinery supplies»
Minsk, 30 December/ Dmitry Zayats - BelaPAN. The Council of the EurAsEC Anti-Crisis Fund (ACF) has postponed its discussion on disbursement of the sixth tranche of the financial credit to Belarus because of the country's failure to meet ten of the targets under the current stabilisation programme. That decision––which text has been received by BelaPAN––was adopted on December 27, based on the results of the thirteenth meeting (in absentia) of the Fund’s Council
Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) opened a US $10 million targeted loan facility for Kazakhstan’s Kazagrofinance. The respective agreement was signed today by Dmitry Krasilnikov, Member of the Management Board and Managing Director for Corporate Finance at EDB, and Nurlan Umirzakov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board at Kazagrofinance, the press service of the bank reports
Almaty, 26 December 2013. Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) opened a US $10 million targeted loan facility for Kazakhstan’s Kazagrofinance. The respective agreement was signed today by Dmitry Krasilnikov, Member of the Management Board and Managing Director for Corporate Finance at EDB, and Nurlan Umirzakov, First Deputy Chairman of the Board at Kazagrofinance
Almaty, 25 December 2013. In Q3 2013, with the improvements in the global economic situation, the CIS region also demonstrated stronger economic position. This conclusion is suggested in the new issue of The CIS Macromonitor published by Eurasian Development Bank’s (EDB) Research Department. The rise in the CIS countries’ aggregate GDP was 1.6% year-on-year. The best performance was shown by retailing, construction and the services sector. The decline in industrial production and investment activities seems to have reached its bottom — now the increase in the physical volumes of the most important exports should foster the recovery of investment and production activities in the region.
Azerbaijan has stepped up its economic growth: in January-September the country’s GDP went up by 5.4% year-on-year. The oil and gas sector had a zero growth after a decline in the first six months of the year while the growth in non-oil and gas industries slowed down to 10.4% in January-September. Construction and trade were the sectors that contributed to the most significant extent to the overall growth in GDP.
Armenia’s economic performance in Q3 was relatively weak. The growth in GDP was a mere 1.4% year-on-year and 2.6% over the first nine months of 2013. The balance of payments, however, improved, in particular due to the enhanced export potential, and the net inflow of money transfers rose by 10.6%. The surplus in the financial account improved drastically thanks to the successful issue by the Armenian government of Eurobonds in September 2013. Despite a slowdown in economic activities, the state budget had a surplus of 1% of GDP