Azernews.Az

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Azerbaijan will participate as a donor country in the programs of international financial organizations, as well as the Asian Development Fund of the ADB, said the Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov.

He made the remarks at the sidelines of the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), held in Fiji.

Sharifov, who is member of the ADB Board of Governors, headed the Azerbaijani delegation at the event.

At separate meetings with ADB President Takehiko Nakao, ADB Regional Vice President Shixin Chen, Head of ADB Central and West Asia Department Werner Liepach and Executive Director representing Azerbaijan in the board, Australian Tony McDonald, Sharifov informed the parties about implementation of large-scale economic reforms in Azerbaijan under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.

He also spoke about the success achieved, strengthening of the financial and banking system of the country, as well as the recent decisions regarding solving problem loans and indicators of socio-economic development.

The president of the ADB and other officials hailed the ongoing reforms in Azerbaijan and highly appreciated the growth of the country’s socio-economic indicators in a short time. Nakao expressed his gratitude for Azerbaijan’s joining the list of the Bank’s donors.

It is noteworthy that the recent report of ADB entitled "Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2019: Strengthening Disaster Resilience" states that the economy of Azerbaijan will grow by 2.5 percent in 2019 and by 2.7 percent in 2020.

The document notes that the GDP growth is forecast to inch higher in 2019 and 2020 on expanded public spending, gas production, and non-petroleum output, with inflation rebounding slightly in both years and higher gas exports further widening the current account surplus.

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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1

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