Azerbaijan's foreign debt dropped sharply in relation to the gross domestic product to 9.5 percent, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his interview with local TV channels, Trend reports.
"At the same time, our foreign debt has decreased. Both in absolute numbers – it is lower than 7 billion dollars – and in relation to the gross domestic product. Of course, it has decreased sharply. Whereas at the beginning of last year our foreign debt accounted for 17 percent of the gross domestic product, according to the results of last year, it dropped to 9.5 percent. For comparison, I can say that in many developed countries it accounts for 100 or even 130-150 percent.
In means that we are economically independent. If we want, we can start work to attract loans from international financial institutions. In fact, we have already started that. Because the ongoing projects with both the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are almost finished. High-ranking representatives of both of the world's leading financial institutions visited Baku last year, and new directions were determined during the discussions. So I can say with full confidence that we will not encounter any problem in attracting unlimited foreign loans," President Ilham Aliyev said.
