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Azerbaijan's economy shows resilience to external risks, said Dmitry Gvindadze, leading economist of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD.

"Azerbaijan's external debt is at a very low level,” he said at the Financial Markets Forum in Baku on June 1. “It hits only 20 percent in relation to GDP. The ratio of state debt reaches 11 percent. Moreover, if you pay attention to the gold and exchange currency reserves of Azerbaijan, we will see that the country has large financial reserves."

Gvindadze further said that taking into account that the country's main expenses are associated with financing of major projects, Azerbaijan may minimize the impact of external risks through its fiscal policy.

He also stressed the achievements of Azerbaijan’s non-oil sector.

"The non-oil sector growth rate greatly exceeds the oil sector, although Azerbaijan’s economy still depends on oil,” he said. “Some 85 percent of exports, 40 percent of the economy account for the oil sector. The main task of the Azerbaijani government is to change this ratio."

Baku hosted a forum of the London City Stock Exchange, organized by PASHA Bank and Deloitte, on June 1. The recent economic achievements and investment sphere in Azerbaijan, integration issues between the capital markets of Azerbaijan and Great Britain and others were discussed during the forum.

The representatives of the Azerbaijani State Securities Committee, the London City Stock Exchange, EBRD, Azerbaijani banks and others attend the event.

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