Press Review 13/12/2016

The dynamic development of the country, the use of Magnitsky Act to Azerbaijan, an effective fight against the black market, and the situation in the economy are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the dynamic development of the country. The author makes a small excursion into the history of signing the oil contracts, the proceeds of which turned Azerbaijan into a social and economic power in the South Caucasus. The article refers to the author of the current economic model of development of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. The author also reflects on ways to increase the country's income.

The website Azadliq.info writes about possible sanctions against the authorities. The Global Magnitsky Act is waiting for the signature of US President. The author discusses the possible application of the law against Azerbaijan with a former member of parliament, member of the Coordinating Center for the National Council of Democratic Forces Gultekin Hajibeyli.

Yeni Musavat talks on "the eve of the crisis" with an expert Gadir Ibrahimli, who believes that the crisis has been increasingly deepening since 2014. He foretells that 2017 will be the most critical year in terms of the crisis and the economic prospects that do not promise anything good to Azerbaijan. The expert recalls that in the CIS countries devaluation has taken place. However, it has never crossed the threshold of 40%. In Azerbaijan, the devaluation has overstepped 120%.

Echo has published an article titled “Virtual black market in Azerbaijan – are banks to blame?” The fact that the Internet has become an area for the illegal sale of foreign currency is a clear sign of a crisis in the banking sector and in general in the economy of Azerbaijan. Ordinary citizens and businesses are in need of foreign currency. Many children study abroad. So people are forced to buy currency from the "black market" to pay for the studies and daily expenses of their children. Law enforcement authorities should eliminate all "black markets", including social media, and the government should take measures to ensure that banks have started to sell the currency to the population.

Novoye Vremya has published an article entitled "Azerbaijan in the epicenter of the financial crisis." The paper discusses the statement of the head of the Central Bank on the full transition to a floating exchange rate. According to him, the transition to a fully floating exchange rate requires serious preparation, very tight macroeconomic coordination, and the decision of a number of structural problems. The threat of new devaluation will continue at least until high inflation is restricted. There is no need to exaggerate the capabilities of the Central Bank in stabilizing the exchange rate of AZN, as optimism is not enough to fix the matter. Despite the optimism of the main banker, full transition to a floating exchange rate of AZN will still be implemented, and from this point of view, first of all, for the short and medium term, the main support policies of import substitution may be selected strategic objective of exchange rate policy.  -0-