On Tuesday chairman of the parliament committee on economic policy Ziyad Samadzadeh said during the discussion of the bill on the state budget for 2013 that Azerbaijan’s foreign debt is eight to nine percent of the GDP, and the government should optimize this indicator.
According to the source, in 2013 the borrowing limit decreased by 1.3 billion manat compared with 2012, or by 62.5 percent to 750 million manat.
“Some 781 million manat will be allocated from the budget of 2013 to the service of public debt. This is a relatively large amount compared to previous years. This is due to the fact that along with the repayment of general debt, paying of interest on some loans will begin. If earlier Azerbaijan received loans from international financial institutions on favorable terms, now, with the change of the country’s financial status and the growth of per capita GDP, these organizations are making changes in the schedule of loan repayment,” said Finance Minister Samir Sharifov.
Samadzadeh is concerned about the fact that the amount of commercial banks’ debts reached 300 million manat. “Today, support of banks has to be increased to the real sector of the economy” he said.
Note that the official exchange rate on November 13 is 0,7850 AZN / USD.
