Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 15 / Trend I.Khalilova /
To prevent a significant strengthening of the manat, and thereby neutralise the negative impact on the competitiveness of the non-oil sector in 2012, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has performed a sterilization of the currency to the sum of $1.584 billion.
This is stated in the report of the Central Bank on monetary policy in 2012, published on its website on Friday.
'This year, the Central Bank continues its exchange rate policy in the framework of bilateral targeting of the dollar / manat. In the case of a large surplus in the balance of payments of the country, the currency market supply for the country has exceeded demand', the report said.
In 2012, the rate of the manat against the U.S. dollar appreciated by 0.19 per cent. Stability of the national currency had a positive impact on the stability of the macroeconomic and financial sector.
Against the currencies of Ukraine, Georgia and Japan, the manat appreciated both in a nominal and real way. Against the currencies of the U.S., the Eurozone, Iran, Kazakhstan, Israel and Belarus, the manat rose nominally. However, in relation to national currencies of other trading partners, the manat actually dropped.
Last year, the nominal effective exchange rate (NER) of the manat on the non-oil sector in the total trade fell by 0.5 per cent. Inflation in the partner countries contributed to a decrease in the real effective exchange rate (RER) of the manat by 4.9 per cent. As a result, the REC on non-oil sector fell by 5.4 per cent during the year.
'This means that during the reporting period, the Central Bank provided a stable bilateral exchange rate of the manat and dollar. The multilateral rate of the manat fell which is a positive factor in improving the competitiveness of the non-oil sector', the report says.