BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. The ramp-up in natural gas production will support Azerbaijan’s economic growth in coming years, Trend reports via the Regional Economic Update for Europe and Central Asia from the World Bank (WB).
The Memorandum of Understanding signed between Azerbaijan and the EU on doubling gas exports to Europe by 2027 will trigger the production of natural gas in the country. Thus, even a moderate decline in crude oil production still will not significantly affect Azerbaijan’s GDP growth.
According to the WB, growth in Azerbaijan’s energy sector is expected to stabilize at 0.1 percent during 2023-2024.
At the same time, as the WB noted, the growth in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan is still needed to be addressed.
The possible adoption of reforms to foster non-oil sector growth in line with the new socio-economic development strategy of the country remains one of the upside risks to Azerbaijan’s economic outlook, the report added.
“Implementation of the new socio-economic development strategy is likely to require additional public in certain areas, which will need to be reconciled with the fiscal rule,” the report noted.
Meanwhile, WB forecasts Azerbaijan’s GDP growth to reach 4.2 percent in the current year, 2.8 percent – in the next year, and 2.6 percent – in 2024, in comparison with 5.6 percent growth in 2021.
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