Azerbaijan’s GDP is projected to rise by 2% in 2018, according to the Transition Report of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
The EBRD also expects the country’s GDP to drop by 0.5% in 2017.
The report said that the completion of landmark gas infrastructure projects (Shah Deniz stage 2, Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline ) is expected to provide impetus to growth from 2018 onwards, with GDP projected to rise by 2 percent next year.
"A slight GDP downturn of 0.5% is likely in Azerbaijan in 2017 as a whole as tight monetary and fiscal policies, necessary to safeguard macroeconomic stability and preserve liquidity buffers, weigh on the near-term growth outlook," the report says.
The Azerbaijani government expects the country’s real GDP growth in 2018 at 1.5%. Azerbaijani government forecasts the country’s economic growth at 0.3% in 2017.