Azerbaijan’s strategic foreign exchange reserves have increased by 2.8% since the beginning of 2021, to $52.3 billion, the Central Bank reports.
According to the CBA, the growth in reserves is due to positive trends in the oil market.
In particular, since the beginning of this year, the average price for Brent crude oil amounted to $64 per barrel, since the beginning of June it has exceeded $70 per barrel (maximum for 2 years).
As a result, in the first quarter of 2021, Azerbaijan’s balance of payments surplus amounted to 5.6% of GDP. In such conditions, the CBA in June revised its annual forecast for the current account surplus.
Due to the surplus of the current account, Azerbaijan’s strategic foreign exchange reserves have increased by 2.8% or by $1.5 billion since the beginning of the year to $52.3 billion.
Strategic foreign exchange reserves of Azerbaijan are formed from the reserves of the CBA, assets of the State Oil Fund and treasury funds of the Ministry of Finance.As of October 1, 2014, Azerbaijan’s foreign exchange reserves reached a peak level of $53.7 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2014, the process of reducing foreign exchange reserves began, which continued in 2015-2016 because they were aimed at maintaining the exchange rate of the national currency. Since 2017, the growth of foreign exchange reserves has resumed, which continues in 2018-2021.
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