Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

IMF expects economic growth in Azerbaijan

31 May 2016 18:34 (UTC+04:00)
IMF expects economic growth in Azerbaijan

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan's economy may show some growth in the second half of 2016, believes Mohamed El Gorchi, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission on Azerbaijan.

Despite the difficulties Azerbaijan faces due to the volatility of the world economy, the country's currency reserves and balance of payments are gradually improving, he said, adding that meanwhile, the oil prices are rising.

Mohamed El Gorchi noted that other countries in the region also faced similar difficulties, but the Azerbaijani government reacted to negative developments in the global economy in time.

“Negative processes in the world economy caused damage to countries in the region, in general, this was due to a sharp decline in oil prices and has led to a reduction in the growth rate of the region's economy, the devaluation of national currencies. Azerbaijan also experienced the negative effects of oil prices fall, as the country's economy is heavily depended on it. But the government quickly responded to the negative trends in the global economy. And one of the results of this has been the transition to a floating exchange rate regime,” IMF’s head mission said.

The reforms undertaken by the Azerbaijani government will give positive results, according to Mohamed El Gorchi.

“Of course, the economy will still be regulated for some time, as its growth declined. I think inflation will rise, as this is one of the predictable consequences of the devaluation. These negative effects at the same time are also a good chance to change the economic model and achieve growth through the private sector. Earlier, the Azerbaijani economy was very depended on oil. But now, many will agree with the fact that Azerbaijan has conducted and continues to conduct major reforms to support non-oil sector, especially private enterprise,” he emphasized.

IMF's office has operated in Baku since 1992. The Fund allocated loans worth $577.3 million to Azerbaijan for supporting the country's economic reform program during 1995-2005. Azerbaijan has fully repaid the loans.

--

Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more