In accordance with the WB’s preliminary estimates, the volume of GDP in Azerbaijan in 2019 slightly increased by 2.2 percent.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected the European and Central Asian countries, along with a collapse in the global commodity prices, a breakdown in global and regional supply chains and a sharp increase in risk aversion in the financial markets," the report said.
In response to this crisis, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan is stepping up its support for the monetary system while the country’s government is using a sovereign fund to stabilize the currency.
The country announced the packages of tax-budget support measures; however, given the limited potential of the health system, the national economy was not so well-prepared for a pandemic to end the year without reducing its gross domestic product," the report said.
The preservation of oil prices at a low level is expected to affect the growth of the Azerbaijani economy, as a result of which the WB predicts a reduction in the country's GDP in 2020 by 2.6 percent.
"Against these events, we expect the economy to reduce by 2.6 percent in 2020 and recover by 2.2 percent in 2021," the report said.
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