BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 18. The implementation of new projects in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh can provide additional GDP growth by more than two percentage points for the country this year, Deputy Head of the Russian Gazprombank’s Market Analysis Department Gulnara Khaidarshina told Trend.
According to Khaidarshina, due to the projects’ implementation, the GDP grew by at least one percentage point in 2021.
"Thanks to these projects, construction will become the third-largest component of GDP after mining and the transport industry, with a share close to 12 percent," she said.
Besides, the bank’s representative noted that the acceleration of the growth of the Azerbaijani economy was ensured, first of all, due to the restoration of the non-oil sector, which, in the first two months of 2022, grew by 10.1 percent year-on-year reaching a historically high level.
"Such significant growth in the non-oil sector was driven by such factors as the return of the economy to normal and the absence of new quarantine restrictions, the resumption of international air travel and the gradual recovery of tourist flow, as well as fiscal incentives (currently the budget plays a leading role in stimulating the economy)," Khaidarshina further said.
She also noted that growth in the non-oil sector was supported by new projects in Karabakh, in which it’s planned to be invested nearly $10 billion over five years.
"Growth in the oil and gas sector of the economy has also preserved positive values amounting to 0.6 percent in annual terms (from January through February last year, the decline was 7.5 percent) due to the gradual easing of OPEC + restrictions," Gazprombank’s representative pointed out. "We expect the recovery trend in the oil sector to continue to strengthen in the short term as external demand grows and supplies through the TAP pipeline ramp-up to full capacity."
"We believe that the continued trend towards accelerated economic growth amid a gradual normalization of the monetary conditions of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and increased external risks is positive for Azerbaijan's Eurobonds," added Khaidarshina.