Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 26
By Taleh Mursagulov - Trend:
Azerbaijani economy will grow 1.7 percent in 2018 and 2 percent in 2019, according to the updated report of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), published Sept. 26.
Compared to the previous ADB report, the forecasts for the growth of Azerbaijan’s economy remained unchanged.
Azerbaijan’s economy has grown by 1.3 percent in the first half of 2018, reversing 1.3 percent contraction in the same period of 2017, according to the report.
“The large petroleum sector expanded by 0.1 percent, with marginally higher oil production, while the rest of the economy grew by 2 percent,” reads the report. “Industry expanded by 1.2 percent.”
Growth in agriculture accelerated to 7.6 percent from 2.2 percent in the same period in 2017 thanks to a campaign to expand cotton cultivation.
The bank also improved the forecast for the current account surplus of the balance of payments from 6.9 percent to 7.9 percent of GDP in 2018, and from 6.2 percent to 10.9 percent of GDP in 2019.
Azerbaijan became an ADB member in 1999. The country's share in the bank's capital is 0.5 percent.
Since 2003, ADB has approved loans worth over $4 billion for Azerbaijan for implementation of over 30 projects in the public and private sectors. ADB has also implemented technical assistance projects totaling almost $30 million in the country.