The Obama administration tightened economic pressure on Russia over its intervention in Ukraine by imposing further sanctions on some Russian individuals and companies. Most of the targeted groups were associates or bank subsidiaries of people and companies already sanctioned before by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The group includes 34 people or…
RIA Novosti reported that the United States government has refused to guarantee Ukraine’s liabilities on debt to Russia. The report stated that the US has officially refused to guarantee the $3 billion in debt that Russia was considering restructuring to relieve Ukraine from paying it back by the December 20 deadline. The Russian Ministry of…
Earlier this year we had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Sabit Khakimzhanov, the head of research at Halyk Finance, a leading Kazakh investment bank focused on Central Asia. Khakimzhanov is an authority on the Kazakh economy and investment climate, and has written and spoken widely on Kazakh monetary policy. Dr. Khakimzhanov has a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from…
Despite the deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers lifting sanctions in exchange for compliance with the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program signed over the summer, it appears that Iran’s government is not as eager to rejoin the world economy as most originally believed. For those hoping that the deal would cause a flood…
A new report published by the World Bank predicts that capital outflow from Russia will ascend to $113 billion in 2015 and $82 billion in 2016. The report also lowered its forecast for the decline in Russian GDP in 2015 and 2016. The bank now believes that the Russian economy will retract by 3.8 percent…
Iran announced that it will issue $300 million in state treasury bills, an Iranian alternative to sovereign debt that is sharia-law compliant. The bills are being issued well below their market value for the time being and are seen as a means of gauging interest in the opening Iranian market. The Iranian government has previously…
The Russian ministers of economy and energy have stated their opposition to an increase in taxes on hydrocarbons. The statements came Wednesday after Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov presented a plan to raise taxes on all oil and gas development with the intention of using the funds to bolster the struggling Russian economy. An increase,…
The Financial Times profiles a recent proposal made by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to formulate yearly budgets every year as opposed to the traditional three years. The government’s official reasoning is that fluctuating oil prices make economic planning difficult. The real reason, according to the FT is that Russia is concerned about a looming…
Ukraine reached an agreement with a group of its creditors to restructure its debt and avoid a looming default. The investors will accept a 20% write-off on the estimated $18 billion in debt on the country’s bonds and accept a freeze on repayment for the next four years. The Ukrainian finance ministry has lauded the…
Kazakhstan continues to feel the consequences of both a prolonged slump in global oil prices and China’s devaluation of the yuang. The drop in oil prices to below $50/ a barrel has led Sino-Kazakh drilling company Velikaya Stena to lay off more than 200 employees in an effort to cut costs. The layoffs are partially…
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