Baku, Azerbaijan, May 11
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
The World Bank (WB) has forecasted a 0.6 percent growth of Azerbaijan’s economy in 2018, according to the bank’s ‘Trade in Transition’ Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Economic Update made public by Hans Timmer, WB’s chief economist for Europe and Central Asia, during a video conference in Tbilisi, Georgia May 11.
Azerbaijan’s real GDP is expected to grow 1.3 percent in 2019, according to the report.
For this year, the WB expects Azerbaijan’s economy to shrink by 1.4 percent.
“The [Azerbaijani] government accelerated structural reforms, including the simplification of customs clearance and licensing to support private sector growth,” the report said.
Azerbaijan’s current account balance will be 0.8 percent of GDP in 2017, while it will amount to 3.9 percent in 2018 and 4.3 percent in 2019, according to the report.
The WB forecasts that the volume of net foreign direct investment to Azerbaijan will remain at a stable level and will vary within 4.2-4 percent of GDP in 2017-2019.