BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7
By Samir Ali - Trend:
The volume of Azerbaijan’s GDP has decreased by 1.7 percent, while the volume of import dropped by 26.7 percent, and export – by 25.3 percent over the first five months of 2020, Azerbaijani MP Tahir Mirkishili told Trend.
According to Mirkishili, cargo and passenger transportation also showed drop by 10.3 percent and 24 percent respectively.
"The reductions mainly occurred in areas sensitive to international market changes such as falling oil prices, lowering export prices, decline of freight transportation and others, regardless of the steps taken by the Azerbaijani state, which is quite expected," said MP.
"At the same time, it is rewarding to observe continuous development in the areas with great potential for economic growth and employment in the country,” he said. “Thus, rise in the volume of non-oil industry by 14%, agricultural production by 3.6% and budget revenues by 17% for the five months of this year testifies to the considerable development potential of the country even in these difficult conditions.”
“It should be especially noted that, as the analysis shows, the growth is ongoing in those areas where economic reforms were carried out most vigorously," said MP.
He noted that growth in the average monthly salary to 740 manat ($435.2) is also very important in terms of improving the well-being of the population.
"I should also point out that, GDP in the EU countries is expected to fall by 14% in the second quarter of this year. In a new Global Economic Prospects report of the World Bank, published earlier, GDP in Azerbaijan is projected to decrease by 2.6% in 2020. For comparison, the GDP in Russia is projected to decrease by 6%, in Georgia - by 4.8%, Kazakhstan - by 3%, and in Turkey - by 3.8%,” Mirkishili said.
“The growth in the current conditions in those sectors of the economy in which the reforms were most actively carried out allows us to say that Azerbaijan has sufficient opportunities to overcome the pandemic crisis with minimal losses," he concluded.
(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on July 7)