BAKU, Azerbaijan, Feb. 8
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
The Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC) under the International Monetary Fund (IMF) launched its activity in the beginning of the outgoing week.
The Center created for member-states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) will be opened online.
Based on a comprehensive assessment of member countries’ Capacity Development priorities, the CCAMTAC will host seven long-term advisors focusing on the following areas: macroeconomic analysis: macroeconomic frameworks for financial programming, forecasting and policy analysis; fiscal policy: public financial management, macro-fiscal issues, revenue administration; monetary and financial sector: central bank operations and financial regulation and supervision.
Azerbaijan's nominal GDP will grow to $94.3 billion by 2030, Fitch Solutions international rating agency made the forecasts.
According to the agency, by the late 2020, the nominal GDP of the country made up nearly $48.4 billion. Thus, this figure will increase 1.9 times over the next 10 years.
At the same time, the real rates of economic growth of Azerbaijan in 2021 will be 2 percent, in 2022 - 2.7 percent, in 2023 - 3.1 percent, and in 2024 and 2025 - 3.3 and 3.8 percent, respectively.
The monetary base in Azerbaijan as of early February 2021 has made up over 12.7 billion manat ($7.4 billion), the Central Bank of the country (CBA) said.
According to the CBA, compared to Jan.2021 the monetary base lowered by 782.2 million manat ($460.1 million) or 5.8 percent, while in annual terms grew by 1.24 billion manat ($730 million) or 10.7 percent.
The CBA's foreign exchange reserves for the reporting period amounted to $6.4 billion, which also shows an increase of 0.4 percent for the year.
The United Nations Organization (UN) has predicted the growth of Azerbaijan's economy for 2021-2022 at the level of 2 percent per year, the UN report ‘World Economic Situation and Prospects’ said.
Besides, inflation in Azerbaijan in 2021 will be 3.2 percent, while 2020 ended with an indicator of 3.1 percent. For 2022, the UN predicted that inflation in the country will accelerate to 3.5 percent.
The new geopolitical reality created as a result of the Second Karabakh war, with major reconstruction plans in the reclaimed territories and an agreement to reopen borders and transport links across the region as part of the truce, will make a significant contribution to growth and employment in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov said.
The end of the Karabakh conflict will improve stability in the Caucasus and boost Azerbaijan’s role as a regional hub, with more trade and transit of goods and people contributing to prosperity, Jabbarov said.
The first week of February 2021 was also remembered by the strengthening of the Azerbaijani manat rate compared to the euro rate and the rise in oil prices.