{"id":87805,"date":"2015-05-19T11:41:29","date_gmt":"2015-05-19T11:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/2015\/05\/19\/242910\/"},"modified":"2024-12-15T13:18:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-15T13:18:06","slug":"imf-caucasian-and-asian-economies-should-be-diversified-away-from-reliance-on-oil-and-remittances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/2015\/05\/19\/87805\/","title":{"rendered":"IMF \u2013 Caucasian and Asian Economies should be diversified away from reliance on oil and remittances"},"content":{"rendered":"

YEREVAN, May 19. \/ARKA\/.<\/strong> The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered the GDP growth projection for the Caucasus and Central Asia by 2 percentage points for 2015.<\/p>\n

Growth in the Caucasus and Central Asia (CCA) is expected to decline by 2 percent this year as a result of lower commodity prices and the economic slowdown in Russia, says the latest regional forecast by IMF staff.<\/p>\n

The Regional Economic Outlook Update for the Caucasus and Central Asia, released on May 19, predicts growth in the region will reach just over 3 percent this year. This latest forecast represents a downward revision of 2\u00bd percentage points from the one released by the IMF in October 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe twin shocks of the economic slowdown in Russia, a key trading partner, and lower oil prices are taking a toll on the region,\u201d Juha K\u00e4hk\u00f6nen, Deputy Director of the IMF\u2019s Middle East and Central Asia Department told reporters in Almaty, Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n

\u201cExchange rate developments\u2014such as the appreciation of the U.S. dollar and the depreciation of the ruble\u2014are compounding the problem. Overall, the outlook for the region has not been this weak since the global financial crisis in 2008-09.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CCA\u2019s oil and gas exporters\u2014Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan\u2014should see growth decline to 3 \u00bd percent in 2015 from 5\u00bd percent last year. In some of these countries, the impact from lower oil prices and Russia\u2019s contraction is being amplified by a slowdown in domestic oil production and delays in development of new oil fields, the IMF report says.<\/p>\n

In the CCA\u2019s oil importers\u2014Armenia, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan\u2014growth will slow to 1\u00bd percent this year, the report says. These countries are heavily dependent on remittances from Russia, which have fallen sharply. The drop in remittances has erased any gains from lower oil prices, and the current account deficit for these countries is expected to reach 11 percent this year, the IMF says.
\nAs for the region\u2019s medium-term prospects, bold structural reforms will be vital. Policymakers should intensify efforts to enhance the business environment, improve governance, and diversify economies away from their reliance on commodity exports and remittances, the IMF says. \u20130–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered the GDP growth projection for the Caucasus and Central Asia by 2 percentage points for 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":157305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","tstyn_error":""},"categories":[12139,9216],"tags":[15837,13929,15917],"class_list":{"0":"post-87805","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy-en","8":"category-news","9":"tag-armenia-2","10":"tag-cca","11":"tag-imf-2"},"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/armbanks.am\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}