President Aliyev: Over past 15 years, Azerbaijan demonstrated highest rates of economic development

Trend:

Over the past 15 years, Azerbaijan has demonstrated the highest rates of economic development, said Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev addressing on Oct.25 the opening of the 6th Baku International Humanitarian Forum held under the slogan “Shaping a New World and a New Humanity: Creativity and Human Development”.

“I believe that this is a record figure, because over the past 15 years the gross domestic product has increased 3.2 times. Azerbaijan has covered a long road of development. We have gained complete independence in the economic sphere. Of course, economic independence strengthens our political independence. The economy of Azerbaijan is self-sufficient. We do not depend on foreign loans. Not only have we stopped receiving loans, we have also started to give loans to other countries,” said the head of state.

He pointed out that the macroeconomic stability in Azerbaijan is at a very high level.

“I must say that our foreign debt accounts for only 20 percent of the gross domestic product. At the same time, our financial resources exceed our external debt four to five times. In other words, if we wish, we can reduce our external debt to zero within a few months. Therefore, the fundamental reforms carried out in the economic sphere, of course, have had a positive impact on the social sphere,” said the president.

“If you look at important areas of the social sphere, you can see that the number of people living in poverty in Azerbaijan has decreased from 49 to 5.4 percent over the past 15 years. Unemployment as a social problem has practically been eliminated - it is at the level of 5 percent. It should be noted that our population is also growing - by at least 100,000 people every year. Therefore, our economic development, including the creation of social infrastructure, should be a permanent process. We have done a lot in this direction,” added President Aliyev.