BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.14
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
A surplus was recorded in the current account balance of Azerbaijan for the first half of 2021, Trend reports on Sept.14 with reference to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA).
According to the CBA, the figure amounted to $1.9 billion, which is $1.3 billion or 3.2 times more than from January through June 2020 ($598.2 million). Besides, this makes up eight percent of GDP (in the first half of 2021, Azerbaijan's GDP reached 39.9 billion manat or $23.4 billion).
The current account surplus in the oil and gas sector in the first half of this year amounted to $4.6 billion, thus growing by $1.3 billion, or 40.7 percent, compared to the same period of 2020 ($3.3 billion). In the non-oil sector, a deficit was recorded, which on annual basis increased by nearly $500 million (1.8 percent) - from $2.65 to $2.7 billion.
Earlier, the Standard & Poor's (S&P) international rating agency published a forecast that the current account balance of Azerbaijan in 2021 will be at the level of 0.4 percent of GDP, in 2022 due to current transactions in GDP it will remain in surplus and will reach 2.5 percent, and in 2023 and 2024 - will increase to 4.5 and 4.4 percent, respectively.
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