Azeri economy affected by falling crude prices: central banker
The Azerbaijani economy has been affected by the
slide in world crude prices, the country`s central banker has
said.
"Our economy significantly depends on oil prices set on world financial markets. Therefore, sharp falls in these prices have had an impact on the economic situation in the country," said Elman Rustamov, chairman of the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) steering board.
Rustamov told a news conference on Friday that the global economic meltdown has mostly affected the country`s balance of payments. Also, prior to the outbreak of the crisis, Azerbaijan had gone great lengths to become integrated into the world financial sector. However, drawing funds to the country became a daunting task after the crisis struck, causing a weakening in the financial standing of world economies.
"All this is natural, as Azerbaijan is an integral part of the global economy. Nonetheless, an easing in inflation has lately been sensed in the world, and even deflation has been observed in recent months. This has been reflected in Azerbaijan as well."
Rustamov went on to say that preemptive measures developed on orders from the president allows for neutralizing the impact of the crisis on the domestic financial sector and the Azerbaijani economy as a whole. "I believe that we are capable of managing the anticipated risks and reducing their impact."
Further, the central banker said that the NBA predicts inflation at the level of 12% in 2009. He did not rule out the possibility of bringing the figure down to as low as 5-6%.
Rustamov noted that, overall, the current state of Azerbaijan`s financial sector is satisfactory in comparison with those of the world`s leading countries, and emphasized that the country`s banking sector remained stable in 2008.
In the past five years, bank assets have increased 10 times, while loan allocations increased by about 12 times, deposits eight times, and currency reserves 11 times in Azerbaijan.
"Our economy significantly depends on oil prices set on world financial markets. Therefore, sharp falls in these prices have had an impact on the economic situation in the country," said Elman Rustamov, chairman of the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA) steering board.
Rustamov told a news conference on Friday that the global economic meltdown has mostly affected the country`s balance of payments. Also, prior to the outbreak of the crisis, Azerbaijan had gone great lengths to become integrated into the world financial sector. However, drawing funds to the country became a daunting task after the crisis struck, causing a weakening in the financial standing of world economies.
"All this is natural, as Azerbaijan is an integral part of the global economy. Nonetheless, an easing in inflation has lately been sensed in the world, and even deflation has been observed in recent months. This has been reflected in Azerbaijan as well."
Rustamov went on to say that preemptive measures developed on orders from the president allows for neutralizing the impact of the crisis on the domestic financial sector and the Azerbaijani economy as a whole. "I believe that we are capable of managing the anticipated risks and reducing their impact."
Further, the central banker said that the NBA predicts inflation at the level of 12% in 2009. He did not rule out the possibility of bringing the figure down to as low as 5-6%.
Rustamov noted that, overall, the current state of Azerbaijan`s financial sector is satisfactory in comparison with those of the world`s leading countries, and emphasized that the country`s banking sector remained stable in 2008.
In the past five years, bank assets have increased 10 times, while loan allocations increased by about 12 times, deposits eight times, and currency reserves 11 times in Azerbaijan.
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