Inqlab Ahmedov: "In Azerbaijan domestic internal processes, worsening the consequences of world events, have added to the global inflation"

- How would you comment on the data provided by the Center of Economic Researches, in line with which inflation made 28.45% in May as compared to the previous year?

- As I see the information of the Center of Economic Research differ from the information provided by the State Statistical Committee. Anyway, the problem of inflation does exist and it should be dealt with otherwise it would stop being a socioeconomic problem, growing into a political one.

- Does the government of Azerbaijan take sufficient measures for curbing inflation in the country?

- Price hike on all kinds of goods is a global process. But we will not be able to find solutions to existing problems without specifying internal causes, which lead to processes, going on par with the world tendency. It will be impossible to diagnose existing problem and hope for its soonest resolution without a careful analysis.

Presently I observe extreme polarization is explaining reasons of existing problems: official structures in our countries say that all inflation processes are of global nature and the government of Azerbaijan should not be blamed for it, while critics of the government of Azerbaijan prefer to shift the blame for inflation only on our government. But I think the truth is half way along.

This is really a global disaster. It started several years ago, when the world was erroneously happy about the economic growth rates. Unfortunately, we have witnessed different processes. The rise in demand on oil in the world, especially in India and China, which led to the inflation on hydrocarbons and oil, which also resulted in consumption of biofuel by most consumers, expansion of sowing area for these agricultural products. Naturally, this affected the rise in price on foodstuffs, which we witness now.

At the same time, this does not prove that Azerbaijan has become a victim of global processes. Unfortunately domestic processes, worsening result of global ones, has added to global inflation process in Azerbaijan.

This is proven by the fact that in Norway, for example, inflation made 2.3% through the past year, while in Azerbaijan the figure is 20 and more percents. This evidences that the process of kurbing inflation can be controlled, but it requires adequate economic policy of the government.

- Then how real are the promises of Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade that the government of Azerbaijan will try to keep inflation on the level of 18% by the end of the year?

- I fear all such forecasts will not be justified in current conditions and they are rather used to calm the population. For example, the government of Azerbaijan promised to curb all inflation processes in 2008. But, unfortunately, it is obvious that Azerbaijani economy needs cooling, but instead we witness even high warming.

I can not give any other name to the rise in transfers from the Oil fund to the state budget after certain changes were introduced to it in May of this year, from 11 to 36.2%. Along with global tendencies of rise in price on most vulnerable goods this does not help curbing inflation and cooling economy.

/Day.Az/