BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 1
Trend:
Work done in all liberated lands is carried out at the expense of the state budget of Azerbaijan, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said addressing the people of Azerbaijan on the occasion of the Day of Solidarity of World Azerbaijanis and the New Year, Trend reports.
“Development is in evidence in all regions of Azerbaijan. The regional development program is being successfully implemented. This year, I have made effort to find additional opportunities through numerous visits to the regions, and my visits are of regular nature. I visited the regions of Azerbaijan 47 times this year, 32 of which were visits to liberated lands. I went to Shusha alone seven times. We have started large-scale construction work in Shusha, and naturally, the largest-scale restoration work among the liberated lands is being carried out in Shusha. At the same time, large-scale work is being and will be carried out in other cities and villages,” Azerbaijani president said.
“Of course, in order to achieve all this, our economy must develop successfully. Everyone in Azerbaijan and indeed the world knows that Azerbaijan is doing this alone, without receiving a single manat or a dollar from the outside. Work done in all liberated lands is carried out at the expense of the state budget of Azerbaijan. We have not received any assistance, we have not received any loans, so we are doing this work on our own. Of course, if economic development does not go fast, it will not be possible to do it at this speed. As a result of the work done, we can say that we have already entered the post-crisis period. Azerbaijan's economy grew by 5.3 percent in the first 11 months of this year, while the non-oil economy grew by 6.4 percent. Industrial production increased by 5.5 percent and in the non-oil sector by 20.7 percent. Our foreign exchange reserves have increased by $2.2 billion. The positive balance of our trade relations is $9.4 billion. Our external public debt accounts for only 17 percent of our gross domestic product, and this year the external public debt has decreased, both in absolute terms and in relation to GDP,” the head of state said.