Azernews.Az

Poverty kept dropping in Azerbaijan to make up 16% as of late 2007, the state statistics body said while drawing up the outcomes of last year.
The State Statistics Committee chairman Arif Valiyev recalled that the figure was 20.8% in 2006, saying rapid reduction of the poverty level was driven by the rising income of the population and wages of citizens. Another key reason for the improvement was the opening of a great number of jobs in the country, he told a press conference last Wednesday.
Valiyev pledged that the process would be continued to further bring the poverty level down in 2008.
As for the unemployment rate, the committee chairman said 280,000 people in the over eight-million nation held no jobs.
"Some of these persons are looking for jobs closer to their homes, while others plan to continue education," he said, adding that such persons could not be considered as unemployed.
Only about 50,000 persons have been granted the official status of the unemployed in the country.
With regard to challenges faced by the Azerbaijani economy in 2007, Valiyev said inflation made up 16.7%. "This was an undesirable development in the national economy."
Food prices rose 16.2%, whole those on other goods - 10.5%, and fees on services 25.3%. Inflation made up 2.5% in December alone.
Valiyev said outside factors were among those that affected domestic prices. "Some 45% of the demand for foodstuffs was met by imports. The rising prices abroad affected prices at home."
Valiyev went on to say that price increases are likely to linger on this year due to a similar development observed in overseas markets.
"World prices for both oil and gold are on the rise. The increase is affecting transport, ultimately leading to price hikes," he said.
Valiyev predicted that inflation will range between 10% and 13% in 2008.

Remarkable growth
High indicators were achieved in Azerbaijan's economic and social development in 2007, the committee chairman said.
He said the Gross Domestic Product, a key macro-economic figure indicating the country's growth, increased 25% to reach 25.2 billion manats ($30 billion). Most of the GDP - 59.2% - was made up by industries, while smaller percentages - by other fields such as agriculture and forestry. The construction sector accounted for 7.1% of the figure, while 5.8% was made up by the trade and services sectors, 4.2% by transport, 1.9% communications, 8.3% other services and the social sector, and 7.3% net taxes on imports and exports. According to preliminary estimates, the private sector accounted for 84% of the GDP.
Valiyev noted that industrial growth made up 24% last year. Goods worth 20.2 billion manats ($24 billion) were produced in this field. 21.8% of the overall volume was made up by refining industries, or 7.5% over 2006.
77.4% of industrial output was made up by the private sector, a 32.6% increase from the previous year.