BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 29. Azerbaijan’s strategic foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.3 billion, reaching $89.4 billion. The existing reserves serve as an important financial buffer, ensuring the country’s resilience to external economic shocks, the Governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan Taleh Kazimov said at a press conference on Thursday dedicated to the parameters of the interest rate corridor, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
He noted that favorable conditions have been observed in the country’s external sector over the past period of this year. According to customs statistics, the trade surplus reached $10.5 billion.
The CBA Governor noted that according to data for the first six months of this year, the current account surplus stands at $4.7 billion. This is equivalent to 12.4% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
“Our country’s strategic foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.3 billion, reaching $89.4 billion. This is a fairly substantial financial buffer,” Kazimov said.
He emphasized that, according to balance of payments statistics, Azerbaijan’s strategic foreign exchange reserves are sufficient to finance 40 months of imports of goods and services. Internationally, a level equivalent to three months is considered the norm.
“We have this 40-month period, which provides a fairly substantial financial buffer,” the CBA governor noted.
According to Kazimov, the ratio of the country’s strategic foreign exchange reserves to the broad money supply is 3.4 times, which is a high figure.
