World financial officials in Azerbaijan to discuss structural reforms

Delegations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) arrived in Azerbaijan on Thursday to discuss ways to support structural reforms and help the country overcome the economic crisis, local news agency Trend reported.

The discussions mainly revolved around areas for technical assistance and possible financing needs. The talks also focused on negative impact of falling oil prices on the Azerbaijan's economy and its economic policy priorities.

Two days earlier, an IMF spokesman told The Financial Times that "An IMF team will be in Baku during Jan. 28 - Feb. 4 for a fact-finding staff visit at the authorities' request."

The Azerbaijani media quoted The Financial Times on Thursday as saying that "the IMF and WB officials will discuss a possible $4 billion emergency loan package to Azerbaijan."

However, the country's Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov refuted this statement, saying that Azerbaijan does not hold any talks regarding the emergency loan package.

"Our condition is not so deplorable to ask anyone for a loan in a short period," Sharifov said at a press conference here Thursday, noting that asking for a loan of 4 billion U.S. dollars is out of the question.

The structural reforms initiated by the Azerbaijani government have been welcomed by international financial institutions, he said.

"They said they are ready to provide necessary assistance to Azerbaijan, including financial support. That means the promotion of a broad privatization program, measures to improve the business environment, reduce bureaucracy, and improve public administration," Sharifov said.

"All this is done so that we can create a new model of development that would not depend on oil," he said.

Oil and gas account for 95 percent of Azeri exports and 75 percent of government revenues. Crude oil price falling over the past six months to about 30 dollars a barrel has dealt a crushing blow to the Caspian Sea country's economy.

Azerbaijan in December floated its currency, the manat, after burning through more than half its foreign exchange reserves last year.

The manat has continued to lose value, falling by more than a third against the dollar in the past month alone, triggering a steep spike in inflation.

Azerbaijan joined the IMF in 1992. The country attracted IMF's loans worth 577.3 million dollars for six programs as part of economic reforms till 2005.

Since Baku joined the WB in 1992, WB allocated over 3 billion dollars to the country to implement more than 50 projects. Endit