Press Review January 10, 2018

A new stage in the development of the agrarian region, the situation in the foreign exchange market, the problems of the non-oil sector, and the situation in the field of tourism are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the beginning of a new stage in the development of the agricultural sector. The author writes that the path to the development of agriculture over the past four years has not been easy. Numerous decrees and orders were issued to determine the development of this area. And as a result the export of a number of agricultural products was achieved.

Producers were freed from a number of taxes, preferential loans were provided to farmers, and so on. As a result, the consumer market has stabilized, the export potential has increased, imports have decreased, and product security has increased.

The newspaper Echo published an article entitled The Economy and the Currency Market Will Once Fail, and Manat Will Go to the Tartarary. The Central Bank will periodically compress the manat mass during 2018, at times sterilizing it. This will artificially raise the price of the national currency, but once the economy and the currency market fail, manat "will go to the Tartarary," too.

Demand for foreign currency in Azerbaijan by banks and the population has fallen, and this process continues. Of course, at the end of 2017, demand grew, but this is a seasonal factor. If you look at the big picture, then the statistics are not very good. In neighboring countries, the reason for this trend is the expensive currency, but in our republic there is a completely different picture. There is not enough manat in the currency market to buy dollars and euros. Over the past three years, the regulator has consistently reduced the volume of the manat base.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya published an article titled Who Is Driving Cotton Production Back into the Crisis? The development of cotton growing is considered by the Azerbaijani authorities as one of the priority areas of economic policy. The proceeds from the export of cotton had to compensate for the damage incurred by the budget of our country due to low oil prices. After a long recession in this sphere, the year 2016 was a turning point - more than 90 thousand tons of this raw material was collected. The past 2017 also distinguished itself by high productivity in the field of cotton growing. However, cotton growing is a sphere that constantly requires considerable investments. To get a real return on cotton exports, you need to invest money.

The website Azadliq.info cites the opinion of the economist Gubad Ibadoglu on the development of tourism in Azerbaijan and Georgia. According to the expert, the expenses of one tourist in Azerbaijan are equal to the expenses of two tourists in Georgia.

In 2017, the number of tourists to Azerbaijan increased by 20%, exceeding 2.5 million people. However, this figure is three times lower than in Georgia. Further, the author makes a layout in manats and dollars.