Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects that Azerbaijan’s economy will continue to grow in 2019 and 2020, Trend reports referring to the updated World Economic Outlook report of the Fund.
In accordance with the forecasts of IMF analysts, in 2019, Azerbaijan’s economy will reach 2.7 percent, and in 2020 it will slow down to 2.1 percent. In 2024, the country’s GDP growth is expected at 2.4 percent. Over the past year, GDP growth amounted to 1 percent.
At the same time, the average forecast for oil exporting countries in the region of Central Asia and the Middle East, where Azerbaijan is included, is 0.7 percent in 2019 and 2.3 in 2020, in particular, due to the forecast for decrease in Iran’s GDP by 9.5 percent.
In 2019, the consumer price index in Azerbaijan is projected at 2.8 percent. In 2020, the index is expected to rise to 3 percent, and in 2024 it will be 3.5 percent. Over the past year, the consumer price index was 2.3 percent.
The average forecast for oil exporting countries in the region of Central Asia and the Middle East amounted to 6.9 percent for 2019 and 9 percent for 2020.
The current Azerbaijan’s balance of payments is forecasted in 2019 at the level of 9.7 percent of GDP. In 2020, the balance of payments is expected to reach 10 percent. The fund predicts decrease in the balance to 7.6 percent of GDP in 2024.
The average forecast for oil exporting countries in the region was 1.6 percent for 2019 and 0.1 percent for 2020.
Unemployment in the next two years is expected to reach 5 percent, just like in 2018.