BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22
By Eldar Janashvili – Trend:
The Azerbaijani economy is one of the three least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic among the economies of energy-exporting countries in the Middle East and Central Asia, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication (CAERC) Vusal Gasimli said, Trend reports on Apr. 22.
According to the forecast of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a result of a pandemic, the global economy will be reduced by three percent in 2020, and the economy of oil-exporting countries in the Middle East and Central Asia - by 3.9 percent.
The executive director noted that despite the fact that Azerbaijan is also reducing oil production under OPEC+, the economic downturn in the country is being prevented due to the rapid growth of the non-oil industry and effective anti-crisis measures taken by the authorities under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev.
Among the post-Soviet states, Azerbaijan has the smallest difference in IMF's forecasts of economic growth before and after the pandemic, that is, the pandemic has had less impact on the economy of Azerbaijan than on other economies, said Gasimli.
"In our country, the budget to combat the pandemic is about 3.5 billion manat [$2 billion] and anti-crisis measures have been timely identified, while at the same time, more than 3 billion manat [$1.7 billion] is directed to the national currency market to ensure the stability of the manat," he added.
The Azerbaijani government is the only one in the post-Soviet space to take the main risks and maintain macroeconomic stability, ensuring the stability of the national currency amid the devaluation of the currencies of all oil exporting countries and countries with fully floating currency," the executive director emphasized.
“The fight against the consequences of a pandemic in the economy consists of two stages. Thus, at present, the deepening of the crisis is prevented and stability is maintained; in the second stage, economic recovery will begin. For economic recovery, access to markets that create cheap financial, light tax burdens and demand is more important,” Gasimli said.
(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Apr. 22)
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