Press Review - January 16, 2018

The development of the non-oil sector, the deepening of the crisis in the banking system, and the authorities' view of criticism are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the growing number of people wishing to invest in the country's economy, and this is due to the creation of favorable conditions. In particular, the creation of the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency is noted.

The article refers to the Kurdamir region and writes about the successes achieved here in the collection of cotton in 2017 and about the installation of ​​greenhouses on an area of ​​50 hectares there. About 3 million manats was spent on that. The greenhouses give jobs to about 500 people.

The author also writes about the cultivation of pomegranates in the region and notes that the region is located on the Silk Road, which prompted the creation of a hotel system, and more than 3 million manats has been spent on this area so far.

The newspaper Echo published an article titled Growth of Problem Loans Leads the Azerbaijani Banking Sector to Collapse. The banking sector of Azerbaijan is in crisis for the third year. Throughout this time, banks cannot conduct their primary business - lend to the economy.

In 2017, the business remained virtually without credit, and the share of consumer loans declined to near-historic lows.

2017 clearly showed that the monetary policy of the Central Bank does not lead to anything good, and the Financial Markets Supervision Authority cannot cope with its work. The most important problem of recent years, which will lead to the collapse of the banking sector, is the growth of problem loans.

The website Azadliq.info writes about the reaction of the authorities to criticism from outside. Any criticism meets with such words as "they envy us" or "intrigues of the Armenian lobby", "the policy of double standards" and so on.

This time, the department head of the presidential staff, Novruz Mammadov, wrote a tweet about accusations of Hollywood director Weinstein of sexual harassment.

Mammadov is trying to teach a lesson of morality, trying to get an explanation from the US about how it could have happened for decades. He also says the West cannot give moral lessons to other countries if they have similar experiences. -0--