53% of Azerbaijanis are unhappy with the level of democracy

Baku / 05.12.17 / Turan: 81% of Azerbaijanis trust the government, 45%- trust political parties, and 65% trust the Milli Majlis, according to the analytical report of the financial holding company ING (Netherlands). Research in Azerbaijan was carried out by the partner of this holding, the humanitarian partner organization ACT LLC. With optimism, the country's future is estimated by about 80% of citizens, and a personal future - about 83% of respondents.

Since 2016, the optimism of citizens has slightly decreased. Accordingly, there are more pessimists.

Sociologists ACT LLC asked the question about the biggest problems in the life of citizens.

53% expressed dissatisfaction with the level of democracy, and 80% - with unemployment.

Then, as people go down, people are unhappy:

Low wages and pensions - 32%;

Security and the threat of war - 27%;

Low standards of life - 26%;

Corruption - 25%;

Territorial conflict - 25%;

High prices - 22%;

The economic crisis - 21%;

Low quality of education - 9%;

Absence of the rule of law - 7%;

Level of health - 6%;

Migration - 1%.

In the course of the study, the economic situation in Azerbaijan was analyzed. Inflation for the year 2017 is projected at 12.9%, while the forecast for 2018 is 6.9%. In 2018, the average annual rate of manat to the dollar will be 1.59, against the current 1.7. The cost of a barrel of oil in 2018 is projected at $ 51.

Analysts expect some stabilization of domestic demand due to low wages and incomes of the population, which is connected with the oil sector. The lack of growth in lending to the country's economy limits the growth rate of GDP. Experts note a small increase in agriculture and non-oil sectors, but investment in construction is considered insufficient.

The growth of retail sales in the outgoing year fluctuated around 2.0%, the first signs of a turn towards wage and income growth were noticed.

The full text of the report in English can be read here https://research.ing.com/home, in the section House-keeping for 2018 / Russia & CIS macro outlook. The customer of the study was the EU program "Eastern Partnership". -0-