OMRI DAILY DIGEST
No. 187,  26 September 1996

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CIS. The United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) has issued a report on foreign direct investment in
1995, ITAR-TASS reported on 25 September. Russia received a mere $2
billion, compared to $3.5 billion for Hungary, and $2.5 billion each for
Poland and the Czech Republic. Other CIS countries also fared poorly.
Kazakstan received $284 million, Ukraine $200 million, Uzbekistan $115
million, Azerbaijan $110 million, Moldova $32 million, Belarus $20
million, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan $15 million each. The total flow of
investment worldwide was $315 billion, of which $38 billion went to
China. -- Peter Rutland

HUNGARIAN NAMED BEST REGIONAL BANKER. The British financial monthly
Euromoney has named Hungarian Central Bank Governor Gyorgy Suranyi as
the top banker in Central and Eastern Europe in 1996, Hungarian dailies
reported on 26 September. Euromoney wrote that the stabilization policy
conceived by Suranyi and former Finance Minister Lajos Bokros has
reinstated Hungary's financial equilibrium. Readers of the latest
edition of the U.S. financial magazine Global Finance also gave Suranyi
an excellent rating. The magazine notes that during Suranyi's 18-month
term in office, the independence of the central bank has been
reinforced, inflation has shrunk, and the introduction of "crawling peg"
devaluation has stabilized the national currency. -- Zsofia Szilagyi


[As of 12:00 CET]

Compiled by Jan Cleave
Compiled by Steve Kettle