Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has predicted Azerbaijan's gross domestic product (GDP) will be 3.5 percent in 2014, unchanged compared to 2013.

In its latest report titled "Regional economic prospects", which was published on January 21, EBRD said Azerbaijan's economy accelerated in 2013, boosted by the pre-election fiscal and monetary stimulus. Oil output stabilized in 2013 after two years of decline, while the non-oil sector expanded at near double-digit rates, benefiting from increased public spending and expansion of credit. The government's plans to curb stimulus by shrinking the non-oil consolidated fiscal deficit in 2014 could potentially lead to growth in 2014 in the range of 3-4 percent.

The real GDP growth in Azerbaijan amounted to 5.8 percent, the non-oil sector increased by 9.8 percent. The country's GDP in 2013 increased up to 57 billion manats.

The EBRD also predicts Azerbaijan's inflation at a level of 3.8 percent in 2014, which is one of the lowest indicators among the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

The EBRD noted Ukraine is ahead of Azerbaijan with 2.6 percent inflation rate.

In 2013, the inflation rate in Azerbaijan stood at 2.4 percent.

The EBRD invests in the enterprise, financial and infrastructure sectors to promote sustainable growth in Azerbaijan.

Since the start of its operations in the country, the EBRD has invested around $ 2 billion in about 137 projects, with over 90 percent of these projects investing in the development of the private sector.

The World Bank predicts Azerbaijan's economic growth at 5.3 percent, and the potential GDP growth-at 6.6 percent while the Azerbaijani government forecasts the GDP growth at 4.7 percent in 2014.

Around 73 transactions with a total value of approximately $540 million have been signed with financial institutions in Azerbaijan.