Baku, Azerbaijan, June 6
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Dutch ING Bank has forecasted Azerbaijan’s economy to grow 1.6 percent in 2018, according to the bank’s “Russia & CIS macro outlook” report.
This year, Azerbaijan’s GDP will decrease by 1 percent, according to the bank’s forecasts.
“The expected drop in oil and natural gas output by 2.5-5 percent in 2017 will weigh on [Azerbaijan’s economic] growth given the oil sector’s 42 percent share in GDP,” said the report.
ING Bank’s experts noted a modest growth in Azerbaijan’s agriculture and non-oil related industrial sectors.
In the report, the bank’s analysts also made their forecasts regarding the exchange rate of Azerbaijani manat against the US dollar.
In their opinion, the exchange rate of the Azerbaijani manat will gradually strengthen against the US dollar and will be 1.59 AZN/USD in 2018.
The official exchange rate as of June 6, 2017, is 1.7021 AZN/USD.