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WB committed to back macroeconomic stabilization in Azerbaijan

22 November 2016 16:49 (UTC+04:00)
WB committed to back macroeconomic stabilization in Azerbaijan

By Nigar Abbasova

The World Bank intends to continue its work with the government of Azerbaijan on minimizing vulnerability of the national economy to external shocks and increasing prospects for sustained growth.

WB Chief Economist for Europe and Central Asia Hans Timmer, during a video conference from Bucharest, said that the financial institution will continue to work with the government of Azerbaijan to stabilize the macroeconomic situation in the country.

He noted that the WB also cooperates with Azerbaijan towards stabilization of the situation in the country’s financial market and preparation of a medium-term fiscal framework.

He said that the Bank forecasts a 3-percent growth of Azerbaijani economy in two years, mentioning that the decrease in Azerbaijan’s economic growth is expected at the level of three percent in 2016. Given the WB’s expectations for 2016 and the next two years, there will be zero economic growth in Azerbaijan during the period.

As for the inflation rate in Azerbaijan, Timmer said that the WB expects a double-digit inflation in Azerbaijan in late 2016..

During the ten months of 2016, the prices for consumer goods and tariffs for services in Azerbaijan increased by 11.6 percent compared to the same period of 2015. Prices for food products rose by 13.4 percent, prices for non-food products rose by 16.3 percent, and the cost of paid services increased by 5.4 percent.

Azerbaijan’s GDP volume in January-October 2016 amounted to almost 49.2 billion manats, which is 3.7 percent less than in the first ten months of 2015, according to the State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan.

The Bank predicts the European and Central Asian countries’ economy to grow by 1.5 percent in 2017. Rate of economic growth in the region slightly increased from 1.4 percent in 2015 to 1.6 percent in 2016, according to the WB experts. The tendency will continue in the following years and the economic growth in 2017 and 2018 in the region will be 1.5 and 1.8 percent, respectively.

Economic growth in Eastern Europe and Central Asian countries (ECA region consists of 23 countries, including Azerbaijan) will be at the level of 0.7 percent of GDP in 2016. The figure is forecasted to amount to 2.3 and 2.6 percent of the GDP in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

The World Bank Group works with countries in Europe and Central Asia to help improve people's lives and achieve shared prosperity in a variety of ways, including through financial lending and analytical and advisory services. Our work aims to help countries achieve better competitiveness, more inclusive growth, and to adapt to climate change and improve energy efficiency

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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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