Azerbaijan, Baku, May 4 / Trend A. Akhundov /
The Azerbaijani Central Bank (CBA) conducted its monetary policy in terms of fragile growth of global economy, the relative improvement in solving the problem with public debt in the euro zone, the preservation of volatility in global financial and commodity markets in the first quarter of 2012, the CBA's report on monetary policy in the first quarter said on Friday.
"The country's external economic position was favorable amid a high oil price on the world markets," the report said. "The continued growth of strategic currency reserves of the country more enhanced the country's economic sustainability. The dynamics of the growth, caused by the development of non-oil sector, continued in the country's economy."
The CBA conducted an adequate policy of controlling the factors influencing the macroeconomic and financial stability in the first quarter.
"The CBA directed its activity to implement such goals as keeping inflation at an optimal level, the stability of the manat rate, strengthening the stability and developing the banking and financial sector," the report said.
Taking into account the increase in the commodity prices in the world and the expansion of domestic demand in the reporting period, the CBA conducted the monetary policy of anti-inflationary nature.
"As a result, the inflation was kept at the one level," the report said. "The exchange rate of manat remained stable, which is an important factor in macro-financial stability."
The average annual inflation in the first quarter was 3.1 percent. This testifies to significant decrease in the growth rate of consumer price index compared to the same period of last year (5.6 percent). The average annual increase in food prices hit 3.9 percent compared to 13.4 percent in the first quarter of last year.
The manat rate compared to the dollar rate strengthened by 0.04 percent in the first quarter.