BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 27. The annual rate of Azerbaijan’s GDP growth is expected to slow to an average of 2.5 percent over the next five years, Trend reports via the World Economic League Table (WELT 2023) report of the UK Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
According to the report, this figure will remain the same between 2028 and 2037, as well.
Besides, CEBR forecasted increase of the nominal GDP from $73 billion in 2023 (against $70 billion in 2022) to $90 billion in 2032 and to $112 billion in 2037.
Following a GDP contraction of 4.2 percent in 2020, the economy of Azerbaijan grew by 5.6 percent in 2021, and, according to the forecasts, it will grow by 3.7 percent in 2022.
As the CEBR forecasted, inflation in the country is expected to equal 12.2 percent in 2022.
In 2022, the unemployment rate is expected to fall by 0.1 percentage points to 5.9 percent. The public finances are in a healthy state, with government debt as a share of GDP expected to have fallen to 20.7 percent in 2022 from 26.4 percent in 2021, the CEBR noted.
The government is expected to operate a fiscal surplus of 17.1 percent of GDP in 2022, despite the global turbulence in public finances induced by the pandemic and rising inflation, said the report.
“The combination of a relatively low debt burden and a fiscal surplus mean that the public finances are in a strong position, which will support private sector confidence and investment, whilst also providing the government with greater fiscal ammunition in the future,” the center explained.
The performance of the private sector in Azerbaijan has been improved by a regulatory and institutional environment that is increasingly conducive to business activity, added the report.