Istanbul revote will be held on June 23. Whatever result the Istanbul revote delivers, there have to be expectations that a snap general election can be expected not too far ahead. Imamoglu, ... more
Iran is facing a perfect storm involving a severe currency devaluation amid tightening sanctions levied by the US and stagnating wages. Many Iranians have cut down to essential purchases only, but ... more
Georgia, the small South Caucasus country of 3.9mn, expanded by 4.7% y/y in Q1 2019 after strengthening to 6.0% y/y in March alone, preliminary estimates from the country’s statistical office show. ... more
Things are moving fast in Ukraine but actually any changes are on hold until after the elections for a new parliament are complete in July. Despite being a neophyte Ukrainian president Volodymyr ... more
Preliminary Rosstat figures show Russian GDP growth in the first three months of the year was just 0.5% y/y, a figure clearly lower than anticipated by most forecasts. Russia’s economy is ... more
Iran’s economy is expected to shrink for a second consecutive year in 2019 while the country’s consumer price index (CPI) inflation could hit 50%, the International Monetary Fund said on April ... more
Ukraine starts a new chapter following the landslide victory for Ukraine’s president-elect Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the presidential election on April 21, but whether it will lead to a new beginning ... more
Georgia, the small South Caucasus country of 3.9mn, expanded by 4.7% y/y in Q1 2019 after strengthening to 6.0% y/y in March alone, preliminary estimates from the country’s statistical office show. ... more
The Belarusian government forecasts the nation's GDP growth at 2.1% year-on-year in 2019, 2.5% y/yin 2020, and 2.8% y/y in 2021, according to the cabinet's medium-term fiscal programme for 2019-2021 ... more
The month of March was taken up with campaigning for the presidential elections to be held on March 31, which were far to close to call but will almost certainly end with a run off to be held in ... more
While Rosstat’s 2.3% initial estimate for Russian 2018 GDP growth clearly exceeded expectations, the latest BOFIT Forecast for Russia 2019–2021 sees growth slowing this year. Lower growth in ... more
US State Department officials have warned that more sanctions targeted at Iran are on the way. The officials addressed a meeting on “Sanctions: A Key Foreign Policy Tool” held at the department ... more
Georgia, the small South Caucasus country of 3.9mn, expanded by 4.8% y/y in Q4 from Q3’s 3.7% y/y, meaning the country expanded by 4.8% y/y in 2018 overall. That compares to 2017’s 5% advance and ... more
The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) reviewed downwards the assessment of growth of real GDP of the country in 2018 to 3.3% from 3.4%, but the change is unimportant as Ukraine continues to grow well ... more
The Belarusian economy is basically doing pretty well, although growth has fallen off in the last year. The country finished 2018 with 3% growth, however, in January growth fell to a low 0.7% on an ... more
Russia’s economy put in a modest 0.7% growth in January y/y, as expectations for this year remain subdued, despite a controversial upgrade to 2.3% growth by Rosstat for the whole of 2018. ... more
Iran has accused the US of creating a “war” situation with its reintroduction of heavy sanctions on November 5 designed to force the Iranians to the table to renegotiate their Middle East ... more
Georgia, the small South Caucasus country of 3.9mn, expanded by 4.8% y/y in Q4 from Q3’s 3.7% y/y, meaning the country expanded by 4.8% y/y in 2018 overall. That compares to 2017’s 5% advance and ... more
Belarus had a good year in 2018 and the economy grew by 3% year-on-year, according to the national statistics agency Belstat. The Belarusian economy has been recovering well on the back of the ... more
Ukraine will continue its recovery in 2019, but growth will be weak, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on January 8, according to a report of the IMF published along with the text of the ... more