Strategic foreign exchange reserves up
By Abdul Kerimkhanov
The current Fitch rating on Azerbaijan reflects a strong balance of the foreign trade and a small amount of the country’s public debt.
Azerbaijan did a considerable amount of work to return the investment rating, said Elman Rustamov, chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA).
He noted that the country achieved macroeconomic stability after the crisis, and the external public debt has been optimized.
Fitch Ratings is a global leader in credit ratings and research. The Agency’s analysts consider that the economy of Azerbaijan will grow by 3.5 percent in 2019.
In July 2019, the international rating agency Fitch Ratings confirmed the long-term Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) of Azerbaijan at BB+ and gave a stable outlook. The current state of the country's economy is estimated by observers as favorable for investments.
Rustamov noted that Azerbaijan’s prospects for obtaining a high rating are very good.
"Today, Azerbaijan has a stable currency, low inflation, as well as a small public debt. These are all prerequisites to receiving the investment ratings," Rustamov stressed.
He also said that under the balance of payments surplus, Azerbaijan’s strategic foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.3 billion or 9.7 percent since the beginning of the year, to $49.1 billion.
The CBA’s goals include maintaining price stability within its authorities set by the law, organizing and ensuring operations of centralized interbank and other unlicensed payment systems, as well as supporting the stability of the banking system.
The CBA also implements such functions as conducting the monetary and foreign exchange policy, organizing cash circulation, setting an official exchange rate of national currency, regulating and controling foreign currency, managing foreign exchange reserves, developing the balance of payments and the country’s consolidated foreign debt statistics and international investment balance, as well as organizing and regulating payment systems.
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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94
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