Press Review 01/26/2017

The solution of social problems of internally displaced persons, the "free floating" manat, the bureaucratic theft and the pressure on business are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the social protection of internally displaced persons - an issue with which Azerbaijan is living for 25 years. During this period for these purposes it has spent 6.2 billion manat, of which 2.8 billion has been allocated from the state budget, 2 billion manat - from the State Oil Fund, and 1.4 billion manat – from international organizations.

For this category of persons 95 apartment complexes were built, and 50 thousand families received new flats. The newspaper cites statistical data on the employment of internally displaced persons.

Echo publishes an article about the efforts of the Central Bank in order to prevent a sharp devaluation of the manat. Thus, the Central Bank continues to manipulate the money supply in the market and the country is not ready to switch completely to a free-floating exchange rate.

Despite plans to move to a floating rate in 2017, this is not possible.

Novoye Vremya accuses government officials of corruption, which has become a cause of the economic crisis. As an example, the newspaper cites the trial of the Communications Ministry officials.

The site Musavat.com reports on the State Customs Committee’s steps to control prices for export goods, as well as the expenditure of funds by businessmen, which they earn by selling their goods abroad.

Experts believe that such actions could interfere with employers and the attempts to regulate prices are contrary to the principles of the market economy.

In addition, these restrictive measures can scare off foreign investors who wish to work in Azerbaijan.