BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 17. This week, Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) decided to raise the interest rate by 0.25 percent from 8 percent to 8.25 percent, Trend reports.
According to the CBA, the upper limit of the interest rate corridor remained at 9.25 percent, meanwhile, the lower limit was increased by 1.25 percent (to 6.25 percent).
The CBA emphasized that the actual annual inflation in Azerbaijan has stabilized over the past two months, it is still double-digit, and the uncertainty about the inflation environment for the next year is high.
Moreover, a recent analysis of the CBA shows that a balance is gradually being created between factors that increase and decrease inflation.
Also, this week the Dutch ING has shared a forecast on the growth of the Azerbaijani economy until 2026. The company's analysts forecast a 4.8 percent growth of Azerbaijan's GDP in 2022.
According to the outlook from the Dutch company, the growth of Azerbaijan's GDP in 2023 will be 3 percent. The company forecasts a 2.5 percent growth of Azerbaijan's GDP in 2024-2025.
Thus, according to ING's forecast, the average annual economic growth in Azerbaijan will be 3.2 percent in 2022-2025.
As for inflation in the country, analysts of Dutch ING forecast average annual inflation in Azerbaijan in 2022 at 13.8 percent.
According to ING's projections, the average annual inflation rate in Azerbaijan will total 10.5 percent in 2023. For 2024, the company forecasts an average annual.
Meanwhile, this week, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved the allocation of a secured loan worth $4.2 million to the Azerbaijani AZ-LEAD LLC company.
According to EBRD, the loan will consist of three elements: $1 million to refinance existing indebtedness, $1.9 million for capital expenditure to increase the recycling capacity and improve energy efficiency, and $1.3 million to procure scrap batteries.
AZ-LEAD LLC plans to increase secondary lead production capacity from 7.2 ktpa to 17.3 ktpa at the expense of the loan.
In addition, MasterCard, in cooperation with Azerbaijani banks, started to implement a project to prevent cyber threats.
Pilot work is being done on the testing and integration of a service that is able to identify the activities done either by outside cybercriminals or bank customers.
Moreover, this week, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced its readiness to support the CBA in creating mechanisms for the regulation of crypto assets.