BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr. 6
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
The balance of the current account of Azerbaijan will amount to 1.1 percent of GDP this year, Trend reports citing the April release of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook.
This indicator demonstrates the return of Azerbaijan's balance of payments to a surplus because as of 2020 Azerbaijan's current account deficit is 0.9 percent of GDP.
In accordance with the report, the current account in GDP will remain in surplus and will reach 0.5 percent in 2022.
The current account balance, which is the main component of the balance of payments, was close to a stable state amid an unfavorable external environment in 2020.
The balance of payments was mainly influenced by the changes in export prices.
A decrease in the import of goods and services of the non-oil sector during the COVID-19 pandemic also had a balancing effect on the balance of payments.
In general, the current account deficit in Azerbaijan in 2020 amounted to $227.6 million, or 0.5 percent of GDP, while a surplus worth $4.4 billion was formed in the country's balance of payments in 2019.
Standard & Poor's (S&P) international rating agency announced in early 2021 that the current account balance in Azerbaijan in 2021 will reach 0.4 percent of GDP, the current account in GDP will remain in surplus and reach 2.5 percent in 2022 while it will accelerate to 4.5 percent and 4.4 percent, in 2023 and 2024 respectively.
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