Press Review - January 11, 2018

The announcement of 2018 as the year of the Azerbaijan People"s Republic (APR) by President Ilham Aliyev, control over budget expenditures, and the World Bank"s warning are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the decision of President Ilham Aliyev to declare 2018 the year of the Azerbaijan People's Republic.

The author called this decision historical, proving the country's centuries-old statehood. The chairman of the Commission of the Press Council Vugar Rahimzadeh shares his assessment of the fact. He recalls the document signed in May 2017 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the APR, noting its special historical role.

The website Azadliq.info writes that the current government is insincere in relation to the APR, because for many years the democratic values of the APR were stained.

The authorities are not able to erase the love for Rasulzadeh and his associates from the memory of the people, and therefore imitate love for the APR.

The author notes that speaking about the anniversary of the APR, the authorities will conduct propaganda of Heydar and Ilham Aliyev.

The newspaper Echo published an article titled On Control over State Finance in Azerbaijan. The system of financial control in Azerbaijan is ineffective. It is necessary to transform the Accounting Chamber and revise the system of state examination. The more laws in the country's legislative framework that help to control and ensure transparency of budget expenditures, the more effectively supervision is conducted. Currently, the legislation of Azerbaijan has sufficient provisions, regulations and legal mechanisms aimed at control over budgetary funds. The Accounting Chamber of Azerbaijan must work according to the principles established by law. Unfortunately, except for the annual reports on duty that are submitted to the parliament, nothing is heard about the activities of the Accounting Chamber.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya published an article entitled Another Warning from World Bank. According to the World Bank, if oil exporters cannot diversify their economies, they are expected to stagnate. "For example, if medium-term strategies in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan are not implemented, these countries may suffer from weak economic growth.

The rate of decline in the Azerbaijani economy slowed in 2017 compared to 2016, but the process continued. So, the economic recession was 3.1% in 2016 and is expected to be 1.4% in 2017. It is forecasted that the real GDP of Azerbaijan this year will grow by 0.9%, in 2019 - by 1.5%, and in 2020 - by 2.6%. The successes of economic growth in Azerbaijan in recent years were largely due to the favorable conjuncture of world fuel and raw materials markets. The World Bank again warns that Baku should not rely on oil and gas. -0----