Tajikistan: forex market in January-April 2017

A total amount of foreign currencies bought in Tajikistan’s foreign exchange (forex) market since the beginning of this year is equivalent to $2.0151 billion, according to the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT). Meanwhile, a total amount of foreign currencies sold in Tajikistan’s forex market since the beginning of the year is reportedly equivalent to $2.2586…

Tajikistan: foreign debt nearing $2.3 billion

As of April 1, Tajikistan’s external debt amounted to $2.2843 billion, $2.1078 billion of which is state debt, according the Ministry of Finance (MoF) Secretariat. Government-guaranteed debts amount to $23.3 million. Debts of state-owned enterprises without government guarantees have reached $31.5 million. The debts of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) now amount to $12.6…

Latvia: producer prices up in April 2017

Compared to March, the level of producer prices in Latvian industry grew by 0.1% in April. The prices of products sold on the domestic market increased by 0.5%, whereas the prices of exported products dropped by 0.2%. The prices of products exported to euro area countries decreased by 0.2% and of products exported to non-euro…

Kyrgyzstan: state debt up in Q1 2017

The state debt of Kyrgyzstan grew by $95 million in the first quarter of 2017 and updated the historical maximum, the Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic reported. Of March 31, its size was $4,160 billion, or 285,461,89 billion soms. The external debt formed in the amount of $3,803.97 billion (260,978,59 billion soms), and…

Latvia: unemployment rate at 9.4% in Q1 2017

In Q1 the Latvian unemployment rate constituted 9.4%. Compared to the previous quarter, the unemployment rate increased by 0.1%, whereas, compared to the same period of the year before, the rate reduced by 0.9%. In Q1 91.3 thousand people aged 15-74 were unemployed, which is 10.3 thousand fewer than a year ago and 0.5 thousand…

Latvia: micro-enterprise tax creates serious defects

The micro-enterprise tax has created serious defects for Latvia’s tax system, said Fiscal Discipline Council chairman Janis Platais. “It has caused very serious defects to our tax system. It suffocates growth. It acts against the tax neutrality principle, when taxes should not stimulate one or the other form of business,” Platais said. He believes Latvia…