AZE.US
Azerbaijan should move from complaining about economic problems to taking real action, economist and politician Natig Jafarli wrote on Facebook.
Jafarli said the rise in economic difficulties in the country is now visible to everyone, including through official statistics and statements by government officials.
“Everyone already sees that economic problems are increasing in Azerbaijan. Official figures show this, and even officials admit it,” he wrote.
However, according to Jafarli, there is still no serious public discussion in the country about how to solve these problems. He said officials avoid open debate and continue to speak in a “monologue mode,” giving interviews that do not contain clear arguments, are difficult for citizens to understand and do not answer the key questions facing society.
Jafarli said Azerbaijan cannot choose the right path without first making the right diagnosis.
“One of the main problems is that we are not becoming richer. We are beginning to fall behind our neighbors in terms of income,” he wrote.
According to figures cited by Jafarli for the first quarter of 2026, the average monthly salary stood at $1,367 in Russia, $975 in Belarus, $927 in Kazakhstan, $870 in Georgia, $813 in Armenia, $677 in Azerbaijan and $534 in Kyrgyzstan.
He noted that, based on these figures, Azerbaijan is ahead only of Kyrgyzstan, a country without major natural resources.
“Why should we lag behind Georgia by $193, for example? This is not a small amount. In manats, it is 328 manats,” Jafarli wrote.
He said the country should stop merely discussing the problems and switch to a mode of solving them.
“When will we stop complaining and move into problem-solving mode?” Jafarli wrote.
AZE.US