CBA, Swiss SECO sign memorandum

By Azernews

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

State Secretariat for Economic Affairs of Switzerland (SECO) supports Azerbaijan’s efforts to develop a stable financial sector and make the private sector more competitive.

Elman Rustamov, Chairman of Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) and Simone Haeberli, SECO Deputy Director on the South Caucasus, have signed memorandum of understanding.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties discussed issues on technical support as part of the implementation of the second phase of the support program entitled “Bilateral assistance and capacity building program for central banks” embracing the period of 2019-2022.

The Geneva Graduate Institute, which is the executing agent for the program, is expected to provide technical assistance in analyzing and implementing the monetary policy, macroeconomic statistics and forecasting, etc.

SECO has provided technical assistance in such areas as inflation forecasting, interest rate transmission, financial stability, exchange rate policy and monetary economy, and the creation of an extensive monitoring system for the real sector of economy.

In general, SECO's mission is to plan and implement economic and commercial criteria for emerging economies in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, as well as in new members of the European Union.

Cooperation between SECO and Azerbaijan was established in the mid-1990s. Bilateral technical and financial cooperation projects have been implemented since 1998. SECO's program on Azerbaijan covers infrastructure, private sector development, policy advice and capacity building.

SECO’s projects in Azerbaijan are complementary to those of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) under the joint Swiss Cooperation Strategy for the South Caucasus.