World crisis impacts on Azerbaijan

Azeri opposition member Eldar Namazov has stated that world crisis will be overcome much more easily by countries with an effective market economy. It will take no more than a year for them, whereas the process will be much painful for countries where corruption and an unfavourable business environment conspire are features of an economy run by a small group of monopolists.

According to Namazov the biggest economic problem Azerbaijan will face is a decline in its income from oil exploration, processing and exporting. The world oil price has dropped considerably, and the consequences are already visible in Russia, another oil exporter. Namazov thinks the Azeri leadership has taken the wrong position by telling its people that the world crisis is not touching Azerbaijan. Later the Azeri Government will have to admit that it is, but the later it does this the more harm this will do to the country, Namazov thinks.

Although oil price decreases do result in economic losses for Azerbaijan, economic analyst Vapa Guluzade still thinks that Azerbaijan will not be much damaged by the world crisis because its economy is not deeply integrated with the wider world economy.