(Details added 11:22)
Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
The Azerbaijani government points to six main factors for the economic growth of the country in 2018, Arzu Huseynova, the deputy director of the Research Institute of Economic Reforms under the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry, said at the annual meeting of the Fitch Ratings international rating agency in Baku on March 1.
She said that the country's natural resources, population growth, human capital development, institutional reforms, promotion of the development of technologies and comprehensive measures to diversify the Azerbaijani economy can be noted as the main factors of economic growth in Azerbaijan this year.
"The reforms carried out in the country in recent months show their results. Huge work is being done to train qualified personnel. I think that these works will have a positive impact on the country's financial market," Huseynova said.
Huseynova added that the Azerbaijani government has determined the main priorities of the socio-economic development policy for 2017-2020.
"Among them, it is necessary to emphasize the provision of macroeconomic stability, development of the non-oil sector, strengthening of the competitiveness of the national economy and improvement of the business environment. The acceleration of the economic diversification, expansion of non-oil exports, increasing the country's export potential and continuation of socially oriented policies are also among the priorities," she said.
According to the State Statistics Committee, the GDP of Azerbaijan in January 2018 was about 6.05 billion manats, which is more by two percent compared to the same period in 2017.
The Azerbaijani government expects GDP growth at the level of 1.5 percent in 2018.
(1.7001 AZN = $1 on March 1)