Media Review November 6, 2019

The place of reforms in the country's development, the discussion of the budget for 2020, and the reduction of subway subsidies are the topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the reforms being implemented in the country, as a result of which, over the 9 months of this year, GDP grew by 2.5%, and non-oil GDP - by 3.5%. The share of the non-oil sector in GDP was 60.7%.

The author also recalls two social packages covering 4.2 million citizens of the country.

The website Modern.az publishes the arguments of the deputy Fazil Mustafa about entrepreneurial activity and the obstacles posed in the form of monopoly, corruption, and shadow economy. If all obstacles posed to entrepreneurs are eliminated, then it will be possible to create new jobs, and invest.

The deputy also touched upon compulsory property insurance, which will enter into force on January 1. He believes that this is not necessary, as it is conceived as additional fees from citizens. The deputy also proposed to remove the 18 percent VAT tax on books and printed materials.

The website Sfera.az writes about a decrease in subsidies to the Baku Metro by 5 million manats. In 2019, the subway was allocated 45 million manat, and in 2020 - 40 million manat.

After the statement of Ilham Aliyev about the overstatement of budget funds and their appropriation in various ways, the draft budget was revised. In the new version of the budget, subsidies in many areas have been reduced. However, this should not lead to an increase in the cost of travel by metro.