AZE.US
Azerbaijan’s economy showed 0% growth in the first five months of the year, a result that should force the government to reconsider its economic policy, former Finance Minister Fikret Yusifov said.
Speaking on Prime TV Azerbaijan, Yusifov said the official numbers are troubling for a country with oil, gas, large currency reserves and a stronger resource base than many of its neighbors.
According to him, Azerbaijan’s economy contracted by 0.3% in January-March, grew by only 0.12% in January-April and then returned to 0% growth for January-May.
“Why should Azerbaijan have zero growth?” Yusifov said. “We are a resource-rich country. We have oil, gas and currency reserves.”
Yusifov said the lack of growth cannot be explained only by external factors. In his view, the deeper problem is inside the economic model itself: weak business activity, limited access to finance, excessive regulation and the absence of real competition.
He said the government often treats falling budget revenues as the main problem, when in fact they are only the result of a weaker economy.
If taxes, customs duties, fines and administrative pressure increase, businesses invest less, citizens spend less and economic turnover slows, he said. In that situation, the budget still fails to receive the expected gains.
“The problem is that business is not being allowed to work normally,” Yusifov said. “Small and medium-sized businesses are being squeezed by taxes, customs duties and restrictions.”
He said Azerbaijan needs to open real space for entrepreneurship. If a person has an idea, a market and the ability to work, that person should be able to get normal financing, start a business, create jobs, produce goods or services and pay taxes.
But access to finance remains one of the weakest points of the economy, Yusifov said. He argued that business lending in Azerbaijan is extremely low compared with the size of the economy, while in developed countries credit to business plays a much larger role.
The former minister also pointed to falling investment. He said investment in the non-oil sector has dropped by about 15% compared with the same period last year.
“Investment is the fuel of the economy,” Yusifov said. “If you do not give fuel to the economy, it cannot move.”
He compared Azerbaijan’s figures with those of neighboring economies and said the gap should be painful for policymakers. Turkey and Armenia, he said, are showing much stronger growth despite having fewer natural resources than Azerbaijan.
Yusifov said the economic team must honestly answer why a country with Azerbaijan’s advantages is posting zero growth.
He called for the removal of excessive regulation, saying business should not be forced to wait in offices, depend on endless approvals or operate under constant pressure.
“We need to move from words to action,” he said. “All excessive regulations that tie the hands of business must be removed.”
He also said antimonopoly rules must work in practice. Without real competition, he said, prices will not fall, service quality will not improve and investors will not see a normal business environment.
Yusifov warned that economic stagnation will eventually hit the social sphere as well. If the economy does not grow, the state will have less room to address employment, incomes and social support.
“With this kind of economy, there will naturally be problems in the social sphere,” he said. “All social spending ultimately depends on the budget, and the budget depends on the economy.”
The former minister said his criticism is not meant simply to blame officials. He said Azerbaijan has the resources to grow, but the country needs a different approach: fewer artificial barriers, more freedom for business and a practical economic policy focused on real results.
“We want citizens to be satisfied,” Yusifov said. “But for that, the economy must work.”
AZE.US