Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 10
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
The total surplus in the balance of payments in Azerbaijan amounted to about $4.4 billion and was formed through high oil prices ($64.4) and positive trends in the current account in 2019, Trend reports referring to a report on the activity of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers in 2019 submitted to the Azerbaijani parliament.
In accordance with the report, the capital surplus and the balance of financial flows in 2019 amounted to $116 million, while reserve assets - $5.1 billion.
In general, the global situation for Azerbaijan last year was favorable. The average oil price was higher than predicted in the state budget while positive trends remained on the balance of payments.
The country's assets in international investment positions ($113.4 billion) exceeded liabilities by more than two times ($55 billion), which testifies to Azerbaijan’s high international solvency and, in general, the status of an international creditor.
Given the surplus of the balance of payments of foreign exchange reserves, the country's strategic foreign exchange reserves for the reporting year also increased by 14.2 percent and amounted to $51 billion.
Azerbaijan’s external state debt as of January 1, 2020, is over $9 million, of which $8.3 million accounts for the direct external state debt.
In the structure of the state debt of the country, $5.3 million or 58.7 percent account for the loans attracted directly by the government, $2.9 million - state securities in foreign currency or 32.8 percent of foreign currency and $771 million or 8.5 percent - contingent liabilities that are considered external public debt.
As of January 1, 2020, external public debt amounted to 18.9 percent of GDP while direct external public debt - 17.3 percent of GDP. The amount of external public debt per capita amounted to $903.
