BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 8
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
During the outgoing week, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) announced the volume of foreign exchange reserves as of the end of February 2021, Trend reports referring to the CBA.
The volume of foreign exchange reserves of Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) made up over $6.3 billion as of late February 2021.
The volume of the bank's foreign exchange reserves decreased by 0.5 percent (from $6.4 to $6.36 billion) compared to February 2020, while in monthly terms grew by 0.04 percent or $2.4 million.
The monetary base in Azerbaijan as of February 2021 has made up over 12.8 billion manat ($7.5 billion).
According to the CBA, in the reporting month the monetary base grew by 81 million manat ($47.6 million) or 0.6 percent.
The Moscow branch of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA-MOSCOW Bank) has launched a new service of money transfer between Russia and Azerbaijan, called ‘Granat’.
According to the source, the new service allows quickly and profitably transfer money between private individuals in the ruble, the manat, US dollar, and euro.
The source also noted that the transfer from Russia can be made with any bank card through the ‘Granat’ mobile application, as well as in cash through the branch of the IBA-MOSCOW Bank. The money transfer takes place instantly. In Azerbaijan, the transfer can be received through the card or in cash at all offices of IBA.
The ceremony of signing a joint declaration of intent between the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany to continue cooperation in raising the qualification of managers was held during the outgoing week, Azerbaijani Deputy Minister of Economy Sahib Alakbarov said.
Alakbarov made the remark at the signing ceremony of a joint declaration of intent between the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany on the continuation of cooperation to improve the skills of managers of Azerbaijani companies.
"Some 451 entrepreneurs and managers from Azerbaijan have taken part in this program since 2009 within this cooperation, which makes a great contribution to the country's economy," the Azerbaijani deputy minister added.
Azerbaijan's GDP will increase by 4 percent in 2021, after a four-percent decline in 2020, Moody’s international rating agency said during the outgoing week.
The growth of the Azerbaijani economy will reach 3 percent by 2022, which means a decline of one percentage point as compared to the 2021 forecast.
World Bank (WB) may support Azerbaijan in the fight against COVID-19 within the COVID-19 Emergency Response Project.
According to the source, for the implementation of this project, the WB envisions funding in the amount of $95 million and is ready to potentially cooperate with the government of Azerbaijan in order to agree on the details of the project.
During the outgoing week Azersigorta state insurance commercial company made a decision to close some branches in Baku and districts of Azerbaijan.
"The work is underway in the management structure of Azersigorta to adapt to the corporate rules, one of the effective operations carried out in several spheres is to improve the portfolio and reduce some costs," the company said.
"Proceeding from these goals, a decision was made to close some branches in the districts to recover and eliminate unnecessary expenses," the company said.
Azerbaijan ranked 38th among 178 countries in terms of economic freedom in 2021, moving up six steps compared to the previous year and 22 steps compared to 2019, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy, Mikayil Jabbarov said during the outgoing week.
Jabbarov also noted that the overall score of Azerbaijan, which ranks 23rd among 45 countries in the European Region, is higher than the world average.
"The achieved success is the result of consistent and systemic socio-economic reforms carried out in Azerbaijan under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev," added Jabbarov.
The outgoing week was also remembered by the strengthening of the Azerbaijani manat rate against the currencies of the main partner countries and the decline in gold and silver prices.