Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan’s gross domestic product grew 0.9 percent in January-June 2011 but the growth was slower compared to the first half of last year due to a reduction in oil production, President Ilham Aliyev said Tuesday, according to the state news agency AzerTAj.

President Aliyev told a government meeting devoted to half-year results that the economic and social issues facing the country were resolved in this period.

"Our main goal is to develop the non-oil sector and diversify the economy," he said. "7.2 percent growth was achieved in the non-oil sector in the first six months of this year, with 6.2 percent growth reported in agriculture."

Aliyev also said the incomes of citizens increased 17 pct.

The president noted that Azerbaijan's budget reached $20 billion for the first time in the country’s history, after it was amended, and strategic currency reserves increased $9bn to $38bn.

He said social issues remained in the government’s focus in the first half-year, with citizens’ pensions increasing 40 pct. "The Azerbaijani citizen is at the center of our policy," he said.

Aliyev stressed that the poverty level in the country has fallen five-fold in the past seven years. The implementation of the state rural development program has allowed to open 38,000 jobs in the first half of 2011, he added.