Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 24
By Elchin Mehdiyev - Trend:
There have always been reformatory initiatives in Azerbaijan, but they have recently gained special scope, Assistant to the Azerbaijani first vice-president Emin Huseynov said.
Huseynov made the remarks in Baku at the conference entitled “Social and Personnel Reforms of the President in Public Opinion” and the presentation of the www.stm.az website in the Azerbaijani Social Research Center, Trend reports on Sept. 24.
Huseynov added that there are objective reasons for this.
"During the period after independence, Azerbaijan was subjected to the deepest recession among the former post-Soviet countries,” he said. “Azerbaijan was subjected to the military aggression. The threat was posed to the country’s statehood and sovereignty. The economic reforms were carried out in the country after Azerbaijani great leader Heydar Aliyev came to power.”
“During a short period, the reforms yielded results and the recession was stopped,” Huseynov added. “So far, unprecedented rates of development have been observed in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a number of decrees. According to the research, the majority of the population supports the reforms being carried out by the president. "
“The ongoing reforms have a positive effect on the citizens’ welfare,” he said. “After the double devaluation in the country, real income of the population decreased in 2015 due to the great drop in oil prices. The inflation rate was double-digit in 2016 while in 2017 the trend continued.
But despite this, the government conducted a very conservative fiscal policy during those years,” Huseynov added. “The main goal was to restore the macroeconomic stability. Of course, the goal has been achieved. We are already observing a very low inflation rate in 2019.”
“The real salary growth rates are two-three times higher than the inflation rate,” he said. “On the other hand, as far as people’s income grows, business opportunities also expand, which will cause an effect that will give a certain impetus to the further economic growth."