BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 16. Minister of Finance of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov and the delegation of the ministry are on a visit to the capital of US Washington to attend the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, Trend reports citing the Minister of Finance.
Sharifov attended the plenary session of the IMF Annual Meeting and the World Bank Group on October 14. IMF Executive Director Kristalina Georgieva and President of the World Bank Group David Malpass, who spoke at the plenary session with the participation of high-level state and government officials of the IMF and World Bank Group member countries, representatives of central banks and international financial institutions, touched upon the current situation in the world economy, the challenges posed by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to the global economy, including high inflationary pressure and food security, weakening of global economic development, and debt sustainability risks in many countries, and stressed the importance of cooperation in combating these challenges.
The plenary session also featured a joint statement by the IMF and the World Bank Group on the processes taking place in the world economy, which was approved by the Board of Directors.
During the visit, Sharifov met with IMF Deputy Executive Director Bo Li. During the meeting the sides exchanged views on the current state and prospects of economic development of Azerbaijan, the dynamics of key macroeconomic indicators, the current state and prospects of current relations with the IMF, as well as plans for further development.
He talked on macroeconomic situation in Azerbaijan, reforms conducted by the government under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, adopted 'Azerbaijan 2030: national priorities of socio-economic development' and the Strategy of Socio-Economic Development of Azerbaijan Republic for 2022-2026, and informed of the work done towards rehabilitation and reconstruction of the liberated territories.
Maintaining fiscal discipline and reducing dependence on oil revenues to ensure fiscal sustainability is the focus of the government, and the IMF is fully supporting the country in this regard.
Safarov, who spoke about improvements in public finance management, including the introduction of a medium-term expenditure framework and transition to a result-oriented budget mechanism, implementation of reforms to enhance budget transparency and accountability, noted that the country has advanced 37 points in the latest Open Budget Index report prepared by the International Budget Partnership Organization.
Bo Li, in turn, spoke about the global economic slowdown and global risks. He positively assessed the achievements in recent years in the field of growth of non-oil revenues and sustainable development of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan, and said that the IMF is ready to provide necessary support to the country in this direction.
Safarov met with the World Bank's Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Anne Bjerde and discussed existing cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Bank on October 15. At the same time, the sides exchanged views on issues discussed during the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev during Bjerde's visit to Azerbaijan's Baku in September of this year, and on the World Bank's participation in reconstruction of Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur.
Chairman of the Central Bank of of Azerbaijan (CBA) Taleh Kazimov and the delegation of the World Bank also took part in the meetings held with the leadership of the IMF and the World Bank.
During his visit to Washington, Samir Sharifov also met with representatives of investment banks and financial-investment companies that are investors in Azerbaijani bonds circulating in international financial markets.