By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and Asian Development Bank Executive Director for Azerbaijan Anthony McDonald have discussed the current state of bilateral cooperation and future directions.

During the meeting, the parties hailed the successful development of relations.

Sharifov briefed on the measures taken by the government, the restoration and reconstruction of the country's liberated lands, the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and the elimination of its impact on the economy.

The minister stressed that, despite the negative forecasts, thanks to the ongoing targeted and flexible policy, in 2021, a rapid recovery was achieved in all sectors of the economy.

"As a result of which in 2021 the GDP growth rate was 5.6 percent and the growth rate of non-oil GDP was 7.2 percent, the country's public debt has decreased and foreign exchange reserves have increased," he said.

In turn, McDonald positively assessed the macroeconomic and financial stability observed in Azerbaijan.

The sides also exchanged views on the main priorities of the next phase of the fight against the pandemic, the bank's climate financing initiatives, the implementation of revised energy policy and a number of organizational initiatives.

Azerbaijan has been a member of the Asian Development Bank since 1999. Since then, the bank has committed $4.4 billion in loans, $32.28 million in technical assistance projects, including ADB-administered co-financing for Azerbaijan.