BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov.15
By Zeyni Jafarov – Trend:
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) at the beginning of this week presented a report on economic recovery in Azerbaijan, Trend reports.
The regional infrastructure for supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SME) was strengthened in Azerbaijan. Along with this, in February 2020, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) extended the deadline for submitting customs declarations and other documents confirming the import of goods and services from 270 days to two years. Under the new rules, imports with a total value of less than $10,000 are exempted from notification to foreign exchange control authorities.
In addition, the CBA has reinstated its function of overseeing the financial sector. The Financial Market Supervision Authority (FIMSA), created in 2016 with the onset of the banking sector crisis, which is responsible for licensing, regulation and supervision of banks, the securities market, investment funds, insurance companies, credit institutions and payment systems, was liquidated at the end of 2019. The functions of this body were transferred back to the Central Bank.
The inflation in Azerbaijan this year will be at the level of three percent, and the growth rate of Azerbaijan's GDP this year will decrease by three percent, EBRD forecasts.
This week, the analytical research group of the Azerbaijan Insurers Association (ACA) investigated the insurance potential of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories caused significant damage to the insurance sector. The Azerbaijani insurance market could have provided fees of up to 4.98 million manats ($2.93 million) for compulsory real estate insurance, and over 30 years of occupation - 149.55 million manats ($88 million) at the expense of residential and non-residential buildings completely destroyed by Armenian vandals for 1993 year alone..
The State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan released statistical data this week. Some 11.5 billion manats ($6.77 billion) were allocated from January through October 2020 to fixed assets from all financial sources for the development of the socio-economic sphere of Azerbaijan, which is 2.1 percent less than in the previous year. In the structure of investments, 7.6 billion manats ($4.47 billion) or 65.8 percent of funds were spent on production areas, 2.88 billion manats ($1.70 billion) (25 percent) - service areas and 1.06 billion manats ($624 million) (9.2 percent) - on the construction of houses.
Azerbaijan's gross domestic product (GDP) from January through October 2020 decreased compared to the corresponding indicator of last year and amounted to 58.5 billion manats ($34.4 billion). GDP per capita from January through October this year amounted to almost 5861.6 million manats ($3.45 million), which is 11.3 percent less than the same period last year.
According to the report of the Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF), depositors of the closed AtaBank, Amrahbank, NBC Bank and AGBank as of November 12, 2020, were paid compensations for insured deposits in the amount of 571.2 million manats ($366 million).
In addition, the outgoing week was remembered by the strengthening of the manat against the euro and stability against the ruble, as well as the decline in prices for precious metals in Azerbaijan.
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