Press Review 05.25.2017

Use of oil revenues in favor of the human factor, provision of safe food, the amount of external debt per capita of Azerbaijan, and three options for "saving" the International Bank of Azerbaijan are the topics of today's press.

The Azerbaijan published an article entitled Capital, which Serves the Human Factor. The author claims that the oil revenues have been directed to the development of the economy, infrastructure projects, the human factor, the development of education, etc.

The Echo published an article titled Food Prices in Azerbaijan Growing, Their Quality Deteriorating. Azerbaijani citizens increased their food expenditures in January-April this year, leaving 10.2 billion manats in retail chains, which is 1.7% more than the same period in 2016, the State Statistics Committee said.

The basic expenses of the population for the considered period again fell on food, beverages and tobacco products, amounting to 5.161 billion manats, or 50.6% of the total retail network.

Together with the increase in food costs, the quality of food products is falling. However, the situation may soon become even worse. Most often, citizens complain of poor-quality or spoiled vegetable oil, milk products, bread, and bottled water.

The Novoye Vremya publishes an article about Fitch's negative forecasts regarding the International Bank of Azerbaijan.

The international rating agency Fitch Ratings lowered the long-term issuer default rating (IDR) in foreign currency of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) to RD (limited default).

The decline in the IDR of the IBA is due to the bank's plan to restructure its external obligations, presented to creditors on May 23, 2017.

The Yeni Musavat writes about the external debt of the country per capita. It is not 704, but 1,500-2,000 dollars per person. The expert notes that Azerbaijan's external debt is about 11 billion dollars, which means 32.3% of GDP. -0----