President Aliyev is happy with economy but with proviso

Baku/12.07.23/Turan: The red thread of the meeting held on July 11 under the chairmanship of President Ilham Aliyev was his statements about the environmental situation that has developed due to the exploitation of gold deposits by foreign investors in the Gedabek region and the unrest caused by it in the adjacent village of Seyudlu in June this year. In considering that the meeting was devoted to socio-economic results of 6 months of this year, the head of state also touched upon some important, in his view, issues in the economy and gave some instructions to the government to solve them.

According to Aliyev, this year the main activity of his government was to ensure the "sustainable development of the country" - the development of the non-oil sector, the restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, the continuation of reforms in the economic and social spheres. He is generally satisfied with their progress, "although the absolute figures are not so great." The growth of the non-oil industry for the first half of the year amounted to 6.5%, and the GDP of the non-oil sector - by 3%.

According to the President, due to the strengthening of discipline in the financial sector, the continuation of reforms in tax and customs authorities and ensuring transparency, the financial situation of the country has significantly improved. The state budget has been revised and its revenue and expenditure parts have grown by 3 billion manats. Of these, 1.8 billion manats will be allocated for the restoration of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, and 1.1 billion manats for military purposes. "These are the two main tasks facing Azerbaijan today," Aliyev believes.

The head of state praised the government for its achievements in the field of public debt management: "We have set a goal in the volume of our external public debt to be below 10% of GDP. We have already attained this goal. In absolute terms, our debt is only $6.7 billion, which is about 10% of our GDP," the head of state noted. In recent years, Azerbaijan has spent about $1 billion annually on servicing the state's internal and external debt.

President Aliyev also spoke positively about the ratio of the country's foreign trade operations: "... in most countries we see a completely different picture, but our foreign trade balance is positive." The balance of import-export operations for the first half of the year is positive – about $ 10 billion in favor of exports. However, according to official data, at least 90% of the proceeds from the export of goods are accounted for by crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products.

"Macroeconomic stability has been ensured for many years. The exchange rate of the manat has been stable for six years and this is one of the rare phenomena in world practice, especially in the current conditions. That is, it is a manifestation of a well–thought-out policy, in the center of which, of course, are the citizens of Azerbaijan," the President noted.

It is worth adding that the Central Bank of Azerbaijan keeps the exchange rate of the national currency at the level of 1.7 manats to 1 US dollar, after its devaluation in 2015, caused by many factors, including the virtually collapse of the state-owned OJSC "International Bank of Azerbaijan", for the recovery of which 14 billion manats of state funds were spent. This is 50% of the state budget of the country.

The head of state also touched on the price level in the consumer market, which does not suit him: "Inflation, expressed in double digits (12% - ed.), should make us think. I hope that by the end of the year, inflation may drop to single digits. Here, along with natural causes, there are also subjective reasons." He instructed the government to make proposals on steps to reduce it.

Touching upon the issue of preparing an investment program for the next year, President Aliyev stressed that the government should "take an economically sound approach" to all allocated funds and "fully ensure transparency" - both in collecting and spending budget revenues. -09D-