Media Review, April 16, 2019

Preparing for the population census, discussing the Code of Competition, and a look at lowering interest rates on loans are the leading topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes that this year the next population census will be held in the country. It will be held from October 1 to 10 of this year, and its conduct is entrusted to the State Statistics Committee. The population census is the main source of information on the current demographic situation, as well as a forecast of information on population movements.

For the first time, the population census in Azerbaijan was conducted in Tsarist Russia in 1897.

During the Soviet period, the census was conducted in 1926, 1939, 1959, 1970 and 1989. During the period of independence of Azerbaijan, the census was conducted in 1999 and in 2009.

The website Modern.az writes about the Competition Code, which for 13 years has not been tabled in the third reading, although the bill was submitted by President Ilham Aliyev himself to the Milli Majlis in 2006.

The adoption of this Code was mentioned in the Strategic Roadmap, and its adoption is planned in the period 2019-2020. There is an opinion that there are forces in Parliament that prevent the adoption of this Code - no doubt, these are monopolists who do not want competition.

The Musavat.com website writes that the issue of interest rates on loans is still on the agenda because interest rates in Azerbaijan are too high and deposit interest rates are too low. Experts believe that administrative intervention in this process is impossible, because after a while the government may face consequences. For example, banks will not be interested in issuing loans, which can lead to a massive decrease in credit resources. Experts believe that high interest rates on loans are not the cause, but the result. The reason is in the wrong policy of the Central Bank and in the absence of a connection between the discount rate and bank loans. -0----