Azerbaijani Central Bank eases currency regime for entrepreneurs

By Trend

Changes to the Rules on conducting foreign currency operations by residents of Azerbaijan, as well as national and foreign currency operations by non-residents were approved upon the resolution of the Board of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) dated February 20, 2020, Trend reports referring to the CBA.

In accordance with the amendments, the deadline for submission of the documents to the authorized bank either confirming the customs declaration or the process of rendering the import services or confirming the import of goods into the country when making an advance payment in connection with the import of goods, was extended from 270 days to two years.

At the same time, the requirement of providing the information on the goods and services which are not imported and the value of which does not exceed $10,000, was eliminated.

The decision was made taking into account the improvement processes observed in recent years in the balance of payments of the country and the positive results of reforms which have been carried out to strengthen the customs control and foreign exchange control in general.

Thus, presently, the ratio of the current account surplus to the gross domestic product is measured in double digits.

At the same time, the ongoing work to diversify the economy and stimulate export of non-oil goods played a decisive role in creating a surplus of the balance of payments.

Along with the current operations, accounting of the movement of capital and finance has greatly improved recently.

At the beginning of this year, a Council for Cooperation with Entrepreneurs was created under the Board of the Central Bank. One of the priority issues raised by this council was the liberalization of the regulation of import operations within the country's currency regime.

The liberalization of the currency regime will further improve the business environment for entrepreneurship in the country.

The abovementioned changes will come into force after inclusion of the Azerbaijani legal acts in the State Register.