Azerbaijani economist: in USD expression Azerbaijan`s 2017 budget is equal to the budget of 2007.
ArmInfo. Azerbaijan faces big problems - the budget and incomes decrease year to year. "The 2017 budget in USD expression is the smallest for recent 10 years, we actually returned to 2007," Azerbaijani economist Natig Djafarli thinks.
"The economy of the country is in a very bad condition, and to recover it we need structural reforms. But the Government does not go for those, because does not one to take any certain steps exactly in respect to management system. I guess such steps will not be made also in the nearest future, because the reform of the management system makes angry different groups inside authorities, which in its turn causes large problems," he mentioned.
Djafarli considers the bankruptcy of Azerbaijani Inetnational Bank as a part of the common problems of the country, mentioning that the Bank's problems lasted for several years. In recent months the state allocated 10 bln mantas for clearing out the toxic loans. Anyhow, according to the expert, it is impossible to clear out al the toxic loans, and today the International bank is unable to implement own international obligations. Commenting the situation with corruption scandal at Malta with SOCAR, the economist mentioned that Azerbaijani state oil company has more serious problems. Particularly, a big external debt - about USD 8 bln, borrowed under state guarantee. According to him, SOCAR is searching at least USD 4-5 bln, to finalize some projects.