BAKU, Azerbaijan, Apr.20
Trend:
I believe that the extension of the quarantine regime is the only right decision, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev during a meeting held through videoconference with the participation of Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Population Sahil Babayev and Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov, Trend reports.
“As for the quarantine regime, as you know, it was envisaged until 20 April. However, in the unanimous opinion of experts, the quarantine regime needs to be extended. I believe that this will be the right step because there are only the first manifestations of positive dynamics so far. We must make it sustainable. Therefore, I believe that the Task Force will announce this in the near future. I believe that the extension of the quarantine regime is the only right decision. Given this, we, of course, must further enhance the social protection of our people. The Azerbaijani people are well aware that we immediately began to seriously deal with this issue,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state noted that a significant part of the salaries of those working in areas hard hit by the pandemic is being paid by the state.
“There are more than 300,000 people in this category. At the same time, the state has allocated large financial resources to facilitate the financial situation of about 300,000 representatives of micro-business. Thus, about 600,000 people belonging only to this category are receiving financial support from the state. Public sector wages are paid in full. Currently, the vast majority of about one million people do not work, but the state pays them their wages. So this once again demonstrates the humane essence of the Azerbaijani state. This shows – I repeatedly said this long before the coronavirus – that our policy is centered on the people of Azerbaijan. The difficult situation of these days once again shows that our words are complemented with our deeds and we always practice what we preach,” said President Ilham Aliyev.
The head of state pointed out that however, taking into account the fact that the quarantine regime will be extended, we need to play on an exit in advance.
“I am giving you instructions on this issue: we tightened the quarantine regime in a phased manner and we should relax it in the same phased manner. How will this happen? The government, including ministries, should work on this issue and submit proposals. We must already plan on where this relaxation should begin with because I hope that during the extended quarantine regime a certain relaxation is not excluded. Nevertheless, we need to take action in accordance with the situation,” said President Ilham Aliyev.