Inert Growth of Retail Trade

In the first two months of this year retail trade turnover in Azerbaijan increased by 8.5%, the State Statistics Committee said. At the same time, independent experts believe that in the current economic situation allegations of real growth in retail sales are questionable.

According to the SSC, since the beginning of the year goods totaling 3.5 billion manat were sold. Of these, 50.1% accounted for food products.

"In the face of declining investment activity, which is accompanied by a loss of jobs and loss of income of the population, we can talk only about the nominal growth of trade operations. However, in this case, the government should also recognize consumer price inflation in Azerbaijan, which has been preheated by the devaluation of the manat in the last decade of February," the economist Rovshan Agayev told Turan.

Azerbaijan does not provide a clear view of the retail trade turnover. Just not many objects of trade are subject to the payment of VAT and do not hide the real turnover from tax. Most objects are subject to the payment of tax under the simplified form, i.e. 2% (in Baku) and 4% (in other regions) of turnover. Therefore, in order to evade tax some of them conceal the turnover.

Local media quoting traders write that in large objects of trade in consumer goods, Bina and Sadarak in Lokbatan in Baku, trade declined about twice in the beginning of the year.

The State Statistics Committee determines the volume of retail trade turnover on its own methodology. In this regard, it can be assumed that the growth of retail is only the result of inertia figures. 08B