Azerbaijan's economy developing on right path
By Aynur Karimova
The forecast by the International Monetary Fund for Azerbaijan once again confirms that the economy of the country is developing in the right direction, said Azerbaijani Member of Parliament Rufat Guliyev on October 8.
He told Trend that each international economic or financial organization develops forecasts taking 10-12 macroeconomic indicators into account. These forecasts are based on macroeconomic stability and the positive dynamics of economic development.
"When we constantly spoke about the uniqueness of the socio-economic model of Azerbaijan, many foreign economists regarded it somewhat sarcastically. But today, despite the fact that there are economic problems in all the countries of near and far abroad and financial turmoil is taking place, Azerbaijan is an island of stability. This is confirmed by the forecasts of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and other international organizations," the MP noted.
The IMF has improved the economic growth outlook of Azerbaijan to four percent in 2015. Azerbaijan's GDP growth for the current year was predicted at 1.8 percent according to a previous report from the IMF published in June.
It has kept its forecast for economic growth unchanged at 2.5 percent for next year. And in 2020, the IMF predicts that Azerbaijan's economy will grow by 3.4 percent.
Guliyev also added that in the last decade, the cumulative method has played a significant role in the steady growth of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan's economy.
"Thus, despite the ongoing processes in the world, the volatility of the world economy, the decrease of macroeconomic indicators in almost all countries, the negative balance of payments of many countries, Azerbaijan's economy is developing steadily, with a positive performance. By the way, it should be noted that Azerbaijan, despite the drop in prices of oil so far, enjoys a positive balance of payments," the official said.
Guliyev believes that indicators showing growth in Azerbaijan constantly exceed the forecasts of international organizations, which once again confirm that the country has its own vision and effective mechanisms of economic development, and Azerbaijan is moving ahead along the right path.
"Today, our main goal is the development of non-oil exports, and I think that Azerbaijan has already achieved the development of new business sectors, including tourism. Its infrastructure is formed at almost 100 percent. This is the availability of hotels, beautiful nature, and the history and culture that attract tourists to our country. I believe that tourism will be one of the main directions of the non-oil sector," he noted.
The government of energy-rich Azerbaijan has been taking significant measures to develop the non-oil sector, which as a result has shown a growth between 10 to 15 percent over the last 2-3 years. Relevant programs were adopted at the state level on the development of the non-oil sector, covering mainly the agriculture, industry, and IT sectors.
2015 was declared the Year of Agriculture in Azerbaijan with the expectation of involving state financial resources in this sector and promoting the country's agrarian potential.
Azerbaijan plans to export products worth $26.8 billion in 2015, some $2.7 billion of which will be goods in the non-oil sector.
The Azerbaijani government predicts the share of non-oil sector in Azerbaijan's GDP to be at 65.1 percent for 2015, which is 5.5 percent higher than the forecasts for 2014 and 8.5 percent higher than in 2013.
Today, Azerbaijan is actively developing the non-oil sector of the national economy, thanks to its growing economy backed by energy wealth, internal stability, and a Western-oriented policy. In this regard, the main slogan of the government is "to change oil capital into human capital".
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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