Central Bank of Azerbaijan forecasts GDP growth of 1.3% in 2023, 3.3% in 2024

BAKU. Nov 13 (Interfax) - The Central Bank of Azerbaijan forecasts the country's GDP to grow 1.3% in 2023, Central Bank Governor Taleh Kazimov said on social media.

Kazimov had previously said that the Central Bank forecast Azerbaijan's GDP to grow 1.5% in 2023.

Kazimov also wrote that Azerbaijan's GDP should grow 3.3% in 2024 and 3.2% in 2025 under the same baseline scenario.

The Central Bank expects the current account surplus of balance of payments to be $9-$10 billion at the end of 2023 [at an average above $80 per barrel of oil]. The account surplus should be $7.5-$8.5 billion in 2024, and around $7 billion in 2025.

As previously reported, the Azerbaijan Ministry of Economy expects GDP to grow 1.9% this year, 2.4% in 2024, and 2.9% in 2025. The economy grew 4.6% in 2022.

Azerbaijan's current account surplus of balance of payments totaled around $5.2 billion, or 14.5% of GDP, in the first half of 2023. Oil averaged $80.60 per barrel in the first half of the year.

Azerbaijan's current account surplus of balance of payments totaled a record $23.5 billion in 2022, an increase of 2.8-fold year-on-year, or 23.5% of GDP, amid high prices for oil and gas.