Azernews.Az

The global financial crisis has not caused a reduction in the Azerbaijani economy and only slowed down the pace of its growth, the state statistics body said while totaling last year`s economic statistics.
The State Statistics Committee chairman, Arif Valiyev, told the press Friday that the growth of the Gross Domestic Product in the fast-growing South Caucasus republic was over 20% in mid-2008, but it fell during the second half of the year. For the entire year, the country`s GDP growth made up 10.8%.
The slowdown was caused by the suspension of transporting oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export pipeline for 15-20 days in August 2008 following an explosion on the conduit, a reduction in the volume of cargo transportation through Georgia that same month due to a military conflict with Russia, falling world crude prices, and other events.
Valiyev said Azerbaijan could boost its GDP growth by beefing up oil production, but current crude prices suggest that the measure would be inefficient.
According to the Committee chairman, the estimates on the number of people who lost their jobs in companies and organizations that have closed down or scaled down operations over the economic downturn have not been drawn up yet but work in this area has begun.
"But the point is that companies which have limited their activity are sending their employees on unpaid leaves, in which case these people cannot be considered unemployed," he said, adding that the Committee would be able to calculate only the number of those who officially lose their jobs.
Valiyev went on to say that 2008 was a successful year for the national industry. Industrial goods to the tune of 28 billion manats ($34.5 billion) were produced last year, reaching 6% over 2007.
76.6% of industrial goods were made in extractive industries where production increased 5.3%.
Azerbaijan produced 44.5 million tons of oil and 16.3 billion cubic meters of gas in 2008, 4.6% and 50.4% respectively above the 2007 figures.
The processing industry accounted for 18.7% of the total volume of industrial goods and grew 7.4% compared to the previous year.
4.7% of industrial goods were made up by electric power, gas and water production and distribution. Growth in this division was 7.9% compared to 2007.
Nonetheless, electricity production decreased 2% in the country last year and constituted 20.2 billion KWt/hrs.
Valiyev also said agricultural production increased 6.1% in Azerbaijan in 2008. Growth in harvesting crops made up 7.2%, while growth in animal husbandry grew 4.1%. Wheat output increased 26% and potatoes by 3.8%. Production of melons - 2.4%, tobacco 14.7%, and green tea-leaves 33.2%, while cotton decreased 44.7% due to the reduction in sowing areas under these crops.
As for the construction sector, the State Statistics Committee estimates that investments totaling 9.073 billion manats ($11.2 billion) were channeled into the field from various financial sources in 2008, or 34.3% over 2007. 6.519bn manats ($8.04bn), or 71.8% of the amount, were spent on the construction of production facilities. 75.5% of construction operations were carried out at the expense of domestic investments.
Also, domestic investments in the country increased 67.2%, while foreign investments decreased 16.3% last year.

Inflation easing amid booming trade
Inflation reached 20.8% in Azerbaijan in 2008, the State Statistics Committee estimated. Food prices rose 28.6%, while those for other goods were 11.5% and fees on services 11.4%. However, the tendency reversed toward the end of the year with a 0.4% decrease posted in December. Food prices went down 1%, while those for other goods remained unchanged that month.
Valiyev said it was difficult to cite a projection on inflation levels for 2009, explaining this with due to unpredictable developments caused by the worldwide economic crisis.
"If the developments continue unfolding like this, not only will we be able to achieve single-digit inflation, but even deflation may be reported," he concluded.
Valiyev added that price hikes have not been reported in Azerbaijan so far in January, and experts are predicting deflation this month as well.
As for Azerbaijan`s foreign trade, the turnover amounted to $53.5 billion in January-November 2008, more than a five-fold increase compared to the corresponding period of 2007. A lion`s share of the volume - 87.9% - was made up by exports, while the remaining 12.1% - by imports. Thus, the country posted a positive foreign trade balance of $40.5bn, the Committee chairman said.
Only 6.9% of the commodities turnover was transacted with other CIS member states.
Azerbaijan`s imports increased 29.7% last year, with 67% of the goods delivered from countries other than the former Soviet republics.
Valiyev emphasized that due to rising domestic production of foodstuffs, their imports to the country have been on a downward trend. For instance, imports of butter, eggs, granulated sugar, fruits and vegetables considerably decreased last year. At the same time, the deliveries of wheat, rice, vegetable oil, and mineral fertilizers increased.
Italy topped the volume of Azerbaijan`s foreign trade, accounting for 35.7% of the figure. 11.4% of the volume was made up by the United States, while 6.7% - by Israel, 4.7% India, 4.6% France, and 3.3% Russia, Less than 3% of the trade turnover was made up each by Spain, the Netherlands, Indonesia, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.