World Bank has raised forecast for economic growth of Azerbaijan

According to the updated World Bank forecast for Europe and Central Asia, this year the economy of Azerbaijan against the background of more active recovery will increase by 5%.

“It is expected that in 2021 the growth rate of Azerbaijan GDP will accelerate to 5% due to the rapid restoration of both the oil and non-oil sectors,” the Bank says, which quotes Interfax Azerbaijan.

According to the organization’s estimates, the growth of the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan in 2021 will be 7.1%. Along with this, the bank lowered the forecast for 2022 to 3.1% from 4.5%, for 2023 – up to 2.7% from 3.4%.

According to experts, the average annual GDP growth rates in 2022-2023 will slow down to 2.9%. Growth during this period will support the increase in public investment, as well as non-energy sectors. Also on the growth rates will be influenced by an increase in the quota of Azerbaijan in the framework of the OPEC + transaction and the increase in gas production.

Rising energy prices will have a positive effect on the balance of payments. In particular, the current account surplus in 2021 will amount to 6.9% of GDP, in 2022 – 6.4% of GDP, in 2023 – 4.5% of GDP.