BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15
By Fidan Babayeva - Trend:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts the Azerbaijani economy to suffer least among the oil-exporting countries in 2020, Trend reports citing the IMF’s monthly ‘World Economic Outlook’ report.
According to the IMF, the economies of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan will be among the least affected among the region's oil exporters. Thus, according to the fund's forecasts, this year the GDP of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will decrease by 4 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively, while Turkmenistan’s GDP will increase by 1.8 percent.
The IMF forecasts that the GDP of oil-exporting countries in the Middle East and Central Asia will decline by 6 percent.
“Iraq, Oman, and Kuwait are among the worst-hit oil exporters this year due to the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oil market. In 2020, the economies of these countries will contract by 12.1 percent, 10 percent, and 8.1 percent, respectively,” the report said.
The IMF forecasts Azerbaijan’s GDP to grow in 2021 by 2 percent.
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