Instead of being transparent about the economic crisis, the president is, in the manner of an unaccountable manager incapable of long-term planning, trying to do the same with less.
A British court has unfrozen $99 million in property belonging to the former president’s daughter and grandson, only after they spoke more candidly about the sources and scope of their wealth than they have ever done at home.
While the government seems to concede the inevitability of the incipient downturn, it is still clinging to rosy economic performance figures. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.
Trade has plummeted, Chinese goods are disappearing from markets, and exports of China’s favorite Central Asian commodity – natural gas – have nosedived.
The region is tightening belts and preparing for pain. But there are reasons to hope the trickledown from Russia won’t be as bad as last time, in 2014.
Central Asia claims zero cases of coronavirus, but the economic symptoms are everywhere. This and more in our monthly briefing on Chinese business in the region.