10:41 - 13.03.2020

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March 13, Fineko/abc.az. The Azerbaijani economy is quite stable to the decline in oil prices.

ABC.AZ reports that the above-said statement was made by Central Bank’s chairman Elman Rustamov in an interview for TV channel Real TV.

According to Rustamov, a number of measures were taken after 2015, and the government managed to balance the economy in the price of new oil.

The country's chief banker noted that the government gradually reduced oil prices in the forecasts of social development and the State Budget of Azerbaijan: "In 2015 the price of oil in the budget was about 90 dollars. But in our current budget the price of oil is set at $55. This is what our social development program is based on. Budget rules were adopted, the manat exchange rate is balanced at this level, and we saw that in 2018-2019, the market was under pressure not to reduce the price, but to increase the price. In other words, the exchange rate is also balanced. During this period we also created sufficient foreign exchange reserves. 55 dollars is not a high figure for oil. This made it possible to implement both the socio-economic development program in the country and to keep the economy stable. In particular, a large social development program was implemented by the country’s leader last year. But today oil has fallen in price. I believe that this is not a dangerous zone for the economy of Azerbaijan. This is a comfort zone."

By Elmir Murad