Azerbaijan FDI Falls 5.3%

Azerbaijan saw a 5.3% drop year-on-year in foreign direct investment to $5.4 billion in the first three quarters of this year, the central bank said on Monday, Reuters reported. The extended slide in prices of oil, which together with gas account for about 75% of state revenues and 45% of the gross domestic product, hit growth, the budget, the balance of payments, the manat currency and foreign exchange reserves. The ex-Soviet republic’s central bank said 79.2% of total FDI in January-September went into the oil and gas sector. FDI to non-oil sector rose to $1.1 billion from $678 million in the same period a year ago. Azerbaijan’s net financial assets rose to $158 million, while obligations fell to $873 million. Total FDI was $7.5 billion last year compared with $8 billion in 2014. Meanwhile, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs will allocate $3 million to Azerbaijan under the framework of the second World Bank project on the country’s financial sector modernization, the World Bank statement said Monday.