Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 1
By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:
The total volume of Azerbaijan's international monetary reserves has increased by 5.6 percent or $2.3 billion in January-June 2018, Chairman of the Central Bank Elman Rustamov said at a press conference August 1.
"Azerbaijan's strategic foreign exchange reserves have significantly exceeded the norms of sufficiency. The total volume of the country's international monetary reserves increased by $2.3 billion, or 5.6 percent, reaching $44.2 billion in the first six months of 2018. Some $37.7 billion of this amount fell on the reserves of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, $1 billion - on the reserves of the Ministry of Finance, $5.5 billion - on the reserves of the Central Bank," Rustamov said.
He also said Azerbaijan will maintain a balance of payments surplus by the end of 2018, according to forecasts.
"A positive balance of $4 billion was formed in the total trade balance of the country, including $3.1 billion - in the non-oil sector. Recent forecasts show that the surplus of the balance of payments will remain by the end of 2018. Oil prices are more than $70 per barrel, a positive trend until the end of the year is expected in this area as well," the CBA head said.
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