Azerbaijan to earn $250mln from effective asset management

"Management of currency reserves and foreign assets, it seems to me, is becoming the second profit-making field after oil sector," said Elman Rustamov, Chairman of National Bank of Azerbaijan, APA reports.

He said the central bank's important priority is to maintain macroeconomic and financial stability in the country.

"We could manage last year. Although national currency was strengthening, we didn't lose competitiveness in medium-term foreign trade. The process will go on this year too. Banking sector has been in focus of attention and results are satisfactory," he noted.

Rustamov added Azerbaijan's currency reserves doubled to US $4 billion in 2006, indicators in banking sector tripled for three years and shows a 7% rise from nine years earlier.