The Azerbaijani economy has recovered strongly, as progress with vaccination allowed an easing of social distancing measures, supported by the increased growth in the hydrocarbon sector, Chad Steinberg, IMF Mission chief for Azerbaijan, Report informs.
“At the same time, though, inflation has increased in 2021, reflecting mainly the impact of increasing global food prices and other external factors, as well as the adjustment of some regulated prices. It is likely that inflation will remain elevated in the near term. Looking ahead, in view of the latest geopolitical developments, the risks and the uncertainty to the outlook have increased. On a positive note, if sustained, the recent rapid decrease in COVID cases could alleviate one of the sources of risk to the outlook.”
The IMF expects Azerbaijan’s economy to grow by 1.7%, non-oil GDP will grow by 2.5%.
From February 21 to 25, the first visit of the IMF mission headed by Chad Steinberg took place in Baku.
“The mission was mainly fact-finding, focused on a discussion of the latest developments, the outlook and risks, and did not provide an assessment of economic policies. You may want to reference our latest Article IV. We plan to return to Baku in the Spring/Summer to conduct this year’s Article IV discussion,” he noted.
Steinberg replaced Natalia Tamirisa, who has led the IMF mission to Azerbaijan since January 2019.
Azerbaijan joined the IMF on September 18, 1992. Since 2006, the Azerbaijani government has not borrowed from the IMF, and cooperation is carried out within Article IV discussion, technical missions on the main directions of macroeconomic policy.
