Government Draws People to Panic

What is the mode of "floating rate" if the exchange rate is still set at the discretion of the CBA, the chairman of the Center for Assistance to Economic Initiatives Azer Mehdiyev said.

The Central Bank today announced the transition of the manat to the "float" and then set the exchange rate in relation to the US dollar at 1.55. "Why not 1.15 or 1.35, why namely 1 $ / 1,55AZN? Who and how calculated the ratio of the manat to the US dollar?" asks the economist.

According to Mehdiyev, the essence of "floating exchange rate" means the rejection of its regulation and AZN is "moored" to the level of its real value.

"We independent experts asserted before February that the devaluation of the manat was inevitable. Then we were accused of trying to raise panic. After the February devaluation of the manat, we once again expressed the opinion about the incomprehensibility of the conservation of the manat at 1.05 to the US dollar due to the intervention of the CBA. The government and the Central Bank, in turn, assured that no further devaluation will occur, "says the economist.

So who actually sows panic among the population? "Yes, the devaluation was inevitable, but not at this level. The actions of the government show that it is not predictable."

Mehdiyev noted that the issue of raising the interest rate by the Federal Reserve in the United States is a subject of wide public discussion in this country and the people are ready for this scenario. In Azerbaijan, the government conducts covert policy and takes decisions overnight. -----08D