Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 15 / Trend I.Khalilova /
During 2012, Azerbaijan's strategic currency reserves increased by 14 per cent ($5.5 billion), exceeding $46 billion, according to a report released on Friday by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) on monetary policy in the last year.
'This amount of monetary reserves allows financing of three year imports of goods and services. In comparison, only 20 per cent of middle income countries have an adequacy level of over 11 months', the report says.
Alongside, the strategic currency reserves exceed the national debt by nearly eight times.
Currency reserves held by the Central Bank, totalled $11.7 billion, increasing by 11.7 per cent over the previous year. It is sufficient to finance the annual imports of goods and services.
Currently, the ratio of strategic currency reserves to GDP is close to 70 per cent compared to 64 per cent in 2011, 58 per cent in 2010, 47 per cent in 2009 and 37 per cent in 2008.
Based on this indicator, Azerbaijan is one of the top 15 countries in the world. Rapid growth of currency reserves was the main factor for the formation of a strong macroeconomic buffer and reduction of sensitivity of the economy towards external crises.
Alongside, the increase in reserves was the cause of maintenance of the continued net investment position of the country at an acceptable level, the report said.