Kazakhstan’s central bank dismisses rumors of looming bankruptcyFebruary 18, 2014 - 21:21 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Kazakhstan’s central bank sought to temper concerns among savers Tuesday, Feb 18, by dismissing rumors of looming bankruptcy at several lenders in the oil-rich Central Asian nation, RIA Novosti reports. National Bank chairman Kairat Kelimbetov in a statement described as unfounded the rumors apparently circulated by mobile text messages about the poor financial conditions at a number of banks, which has reportedly led to a spike in demand for foreign currency. “The National Bank confirms that this information is false, speculative and misleading and it is aiming to destabilize the country’s banking system,” Kelimbetov said. The three banks at the center of the bankruptcy rumors are Alliance, Center Credit and Kaspi. The banks had earlier issued a joint statement seeking to reassure clients. The National Bank and the lenders called on law enforcement bodies to bring those responsible for spreading the rumors to justice. Kazakhstan devalued its national currency, the tenge, by 18.9 percent on February 11. Devaluation of the tenge followed the weakening of the ruble, which last month fell to its lowest level against the dollar since March 2009. Currencies in a number of developing economies, including Russia, Turkey, Argentina and India, have seen a substantial drop in value amid fears of slowing growth and as an effect of US monetary policy to restrict the amount of dollars in circulation. Related links: Top stories Yerevan has dismissed Turkey’s demand to shut down the Armenian nuclear power plant as “inappropriate”. Armenia will loan 2.9 billion drams to Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh), according to a draft government decision. The Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan has “strongly condemned” Armenia’s decision. Kerobyan has said that for the first time in the history of Armenia, the volume of foreign direct investments amounted to about $1 billion. Partner news | Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. |