Press Review April 17, 2018

The stability of the manat, the situation on the securities market, and the reduction of wages in the first two months of this year are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the absence of any assumptions regarding the fall of the manat rate in spite of rumors spread that it will happen after the presidential elections.

The article says that the authors of such rumors are pursuing the goal of causing panic among the population. Otherwise, how can you explain the purchase of $ 5 million overnight by the population? And this is not only a reduction of the strategic currency stock, but also a violation of the financial balance.

The author notes that at present the manat is stable and the confidence in it is increasing, and the banks, albeit not lowering interest rates, nevertheless increased the volume of issued loans. At present, the country's strategic currency reserve has reached 44.2 billion dollars.

The website Azadliq.info writes that 29 million manat was "cut off" from those who received wages. Economist Neymat Aliyev claims that this happened during the two months of this year. If such a trend continues, then by the end of the year incomes on the wages of working people will decrease by 174 million manat, and receipts to the pension fund will decrease by 44 million manat. In January-February, the average monthly salary decreased by 17 manat 40 gapiks.

The newspaper Echo writes that securities in Azerbaijan are hardly valuable and few will buy them from banks. The securities market consists of primary and secondary markets. In the primary market, financial resources are mobilized through the issuance of securities. In this case, the placement of securities on the market is carried out in two ways. In the first case, the side placing securities (the issuer) appeals directly to investors and through the distribution of securities between them mobilizes financial resources.

In the second case, the placement of securities is carried out through intermediaries. Securities placed on the primary market are bought and sold on the secondary market. In the case where the primary market is a source of fundraising for financing the real sector, the secondary market, basically, leads to a redistribution of wealth. However, bonds and certificates of deposit do not interest the population of Azerbaijan at all.