President Aliyev: Azerbaijan ensured rapid development in all areas [UPDATE]

By Azernews

The results of the first quarter of the year demonstrate that Azerbaijan has ensured rapid development in all areas, said President Ilham Aliyev as he addressed a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of the first quarter of 2017 and future tasks,  Azertac reported. 

"Our international standing has strengthened, processes within the country are going in a positive manner, economic development is being ensured, all social issues are being solved," he said.

“Very serious social initiatives have been put forward, army building continues successfully, and I am confident that we will achieve all goals and tasks this year, and 2017 will be successful for our country.”

“Unfortunately, the international situation in the world and in the region is very tense. There are ongoing conflicts, bloody clashes. New threats, new risks emerge, and, in general, unfortunately, no serious steps have been taken in 2017 towards ensuring stability in the region,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

“On the contrary, I repeat, risks are growing. Of course, as a country situated in this region we are concerned about all this and we are taking measures so that the Azerbaijani state and people develop, live a normal life, security is ensured and we protect ourselves from potential risks,” the head of state added.

The president went on to say that the first quarter of this year saw Azerbaijan`s foreign exchange reserves grow one billion US dollars.

“Our exchange reserves today make 38.5 billion US dollars. This is a huge figure,” President Aliyev said.

“Last year we managed to keep our foreign exchange reserves. Despite a sharp decline in oil prices, this year we managed not only to keep the reserves, but in the first three months we even earned an additional one billion US dollars,” said the head of state, expressing his hope that the foreign exchange reserves will continue to grow.

“Almost the majority of oil-rich countries lost their foreign exchange reserves last and this year. But we are increasing our reserves,” the President added.

The trade turnover of Azerbaijan grow 15% in the first quarter of this year, the president stressed.

“It is a very good indicator. Exports increased nearly 50%. It is pleasant that non-oil export grow 10%, but import decreased 17%. It is a manifestation of our policy,” said President Ilham Aliyev.

“Decrease in imports and sharp increase in exports ensures our economic stability. These indicators clearly reflect our economic situation,” the Azerbaijani President said.

The president mentioned that 85,000 jobs were created in the first quarter of this year, noting that the creation of new jobs continues not only in state, but also in private sector.

“The year 2017 has started well. We must try to keep the dynamics and complete 2017 successfully,” President Aliyev said

“Macroeconomic stability is one of the important issues. We should strengthen macroeconomic stability.”

“I think that in general the year 2017 will be more successful than the previous years in terms of macroeconomic stability. There are all grounds to say this. A well thought-out and a very flexible policy should be pursued in this regard,” President Ilham Aliyev added.