Finance

Finance

Azerbaijan sees average annual inflation rate at 1.5%

19 January 2010 17:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Elnur Huseynguluyev - APA-ECONOMICS. The strategic currency reserves of Azerbaijan increased by 15% or $3 billion in 2009 to over $20 billion, said Elman Rustamov, chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, at the Cabinet meeting.

He stressed that the strategic currency reserves grew up against the backdrop of the stability of the currency and macroeconomic environment as a whole.

"This is a very high growth rate amid the crisis period. Stable manat has of course prevented a sharp rise in the cost of consumer and industrial imports, and threats such as depreciation of household deposits, the increase of foreign currency debt burden, and loss of confidence in the national currency", he added.

"Average annual inflation dropped to 1.5% at the yearend, which is about 10-fold less than average annual rate in 2004-2008. Stable manat and low inflation have provided 6% growth rate of real income and had a positive impact on the competitiveness of the country. The weighted average prices of domestic producers decreased by 6% on the prices of trading partners,â€ he underlined.