Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 9 / Trend A.Akhundov /
Monitoring of the real sector, conducted by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), gives optimistic expectations for economic growth in the country, a report on monetary policy following the first half-year said on Thursday.
"According to monitoring results, growth in industrial production and demand for services compared to last year is projected. Positive expectations particularly apply to such industries as chemical, textile and building materials, as well as communications, transport and tourist segments of the service sector," the report said.
In general, the monitoring results show an increase in the number of enterprises with growing production and turnover.
According to government forecasts, as well as international institutions, economic growth in the country is expected to continue in the short term.
The latest economic report of the World Bank noted that Azerbaijan's economy will continue to grow in the current and future years. Bank forecasts economic growth in Azerbaijan in 2012 and 2013 at 3.1 and 3.5 percent respectively, the non-oil sector - by 5.5 - 6 percent annually. In general, according to projections of the UN, IMF, EBRD and World Bank, the growth of Azerbaijan's economy is expected on average at 3.5 percent," the report says.
According to estimates of the Central Bank, the difference between potential and actual level of GDP will be in the positive zone and will reach 1.1 percent.