Media Review - March 16, 2019

VII Baku Global Forum, the influence of holidays on the country's economy, problems with the car market, and expectations from the decree on problem loans are the topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan continues to write about the Baku Global Forum, which will complete its work today. The author called the Forum one of the most significant platforms with intellectual potential. The article contains quotes from the speech of President Ilham Aliyev on the foreign policy of Azerbaijan, and its independent course.

The newspaper Yeni Musavat writes about the upcoming seven days off that will damage the economy. By the number of holidays, Azerbaijan ranks third in the world (18 days a year).

Those who work on holidays are paid extra. Thus, the holidays do not cause much damage to the budget, experts say. On holidays, the main problem is remittances in the banking sector. This complicates the work of the private sector, the expert notes.

The website Marja.az writes that cars produced in Neftchala just fill warehouses. According to the State Statistics Committee, in January-February of this year, 176 cars were assembled in Azerbaijan. In 2018, a total of 969 passenger cars were assembled in the country. During the two months of 2019, 180 cars were sold and 189 remained in warehouses.

The website Oxu.az writes about problem loans; the part to be written off is 750 million manat.

At the end of 2018, bad loans amounted to 12.2% or 1 billion 585 million manat. As for the decree on bad loans signed by the President on February 28, according to primary estimates, the amount of compensation to the population will be approximately 670 million manat.

The debited part will be about 750 million manat, which will improve the situation of about 800 thousand people. -0----