IMF expects Caucasus, Central Asia growth to slow to 3.2% in 2015

"The CCA's oil and gas exporters-Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-should see growth decline to 3.5% in 2015 from 5.5% last year. In some of these countries, the impact from lower oil prices and Russia's contraction is being amplified by a slowdown in domestic oil production and delays in development of new oil fields, IMF says in the Regional Economic Outlook Update for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

"The twin shocks of the economic slowdown in Russia, a key trading partner, and lower oil prices are taking a toll on the region," Juha Kahkonen, Deputy Director of the IMF's Middle East and Central Asia Department told reporters in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The oil and gas exporters' external position is set to weaken sharply in 2015, according to the IMF report.

"The current account balance is expected to turn from a surplus of 3% of GCP in 2014 to a deficit of 2.5% in 2015, reflecting both oil export revenue losses and stronger import growth," the report says.

The drop in oil prices is also having a budgetary impact, the IMF says.

"Some of the region's oil and gas exporters-such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan-are dipping into the large reserves built up in recent years to blunt the impact of the oil price shock. As a result, the oil and gas exporters' fiscal balance is shifting from a surplus of about 1.5% in 2014 to a deficit of close to three percent in 2015," according to the report.