Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 30/ Trend , N. Ismayilova/ The 2009 fiscal plans of Azerbaijan are reasonable despite what now appears a too optimistic assumption on oil prices, according to the report of the IMF mission who visited Azerbaijan from Dec. 10 to 17.
The mission welcomes the more moderate pace of fiscal expansion in the 2009 budget
"A reassessment of the budget towards mid-year would provide the benefit of some more clarity regarding the consequences of the ongoing financial crisis and global economic slowdown, both on oil and non-oil domestic activity," the report said.
The mission believes that recently implemented and planned structural reforms would help support non-oil activity in Azerbaijan. However, if the global recession turns out to be deeper and domestic non-oil growth decelerates quicker than expected during the first half of 2009, the mission believes that, in contrast to other countries in the region, the solid foreign asset position of Azerbaijan and the expected overall fiscal position provide sufficient room to withstand a possibly severe economic slowdown.
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