BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 24
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
During the outgoing week, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee published the data on the state of the financial market as of early May 2021.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of Azerbaijan dropped by 0.2 percent from January through April 2021 compared to the same period of 2020, settling at 25 million manat ($14.7 million).
The consumer price index (CPI) in Azerbaijan grew by four percent from January through April 2021.
Moreover, a surplus has been observed in the Azerbaijani state budget since the beginning of the year. The revenues for the reporting period exceeded 8.2 billion manat ($4.8 billion) while expenses - 7.5 billion manat ($4.4 billion). As a result, as of late April 2021, a surplus in the amount of 706.6 million manat ($415.6 million) was formed in the budget.
Azerbaijan's credit profile, namely the issuer's rating at Ba2, reflects the country's economic strength, the Moody's international rating agency reported during the outgoing week.
The rating of Azerbaijan's economic power by credit profile is set at ‘ba3’, which balances the well-being level in the face of the significant impact of changes in hydrocarbon prices on the country's economy.
The rating of the country's financial institutions at 'B1' reflects a balanced approach to a gradual increase in the reliability and efficiency of monetary and fiscal policy.
The portfolio of projects of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Azerbaijan amounted to over 1.15 billion euros as of early May 2020, a source in the EBRD reported during the outgoing week.
According to the source, the loan portfolio is intended for the implementation of 35 projects.
Most of the projects (78 percent, or 899 million euro) accounted for investments in sustainable infrastructure.
During the outgoing week, an increase in gold prices and a decrease in the rate of the Azerbaijani manat in relation to the currencies of the main partner countries were observed in Azerbaijan.