Azerbaijan, Baku, July 18 / Trend I. Khalilova /
The current and strategic activity of the Azerbaijani Central Bank (CBA) during the first half of 2012 served to fully support the economic policy of the country. It focused on sustainable growth and economic development, CBA chairman Elman Rustamov said at the enlarged meeting of the board today.
"Economic growth rates in the country within six months of 2012 amounted to 1.5 percent, non-oil sector grew by 11.3 percent, while the volume of investments in non-oil economy grew by 30.2 percent," Rustamov said.
He said the surplus in foreign trade balance amounted to $7 billion, strategic currency reserves exceeded $ 44 billion.
"Macroeconomic stability has been preserved in the country," he added. "The inflation was only 2.2 percent. The Central Bank implemented a monetary sterilization to the amount of $639 million to maintain the stability of manat in terms of the large balance of payments. As a result, the rate of manat compared to the U.S. dollar strengthened during the reporting period by 0.11 percent. However, the real exchange rate of manat remained at an acceptable level. The real rates in price reduction have hit 1.5 percent since early 2012."