BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10
By Zeyni Jafarov – Trend:
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) projects that inflation in Azerbaijan this year will be at the level of three percent, Trend reports referring to the data of the EBRD.
The external and financial balance is turning from a surplus into a deficit in the background of a significant decrease in oil revenues. At the same time, the bank's report indicates that the growth rate of Azerbaijan's GDP this year will decrease by three percent, despite the fact that in 2019 this figure provided for a GDP growth of 2.2 percent.
The head of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) also said at an online press conference of the CBA, dedicated to the decision of the Central Bank's board on the parameters of the interest rate corridor that inflation in Azerbaijan by the end of 2020 will be at the level of 2.8-3 percent.
"Higher expenditures and lower tax revenues are expected to push the budget deficit to 6.3 percent of GDP. However, the country prefers to rely on the sovereign wealth fund rather than external funding. In 1H2020, SOFAZ and the CBA's combined assets of nearly $50 billion, which is more than the projected GDP of the country," the report says.
The EBRD is a leading investor in Azerbaijan and has so far invested about €3.3 billion in various sectors: energy, banking, industry and commerce.
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