Central Bank head: Azerbaijani manat gradually restoring its accumulative function

Azerbaijan's national currency has started to restore its accumulative function, Chairman of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) Elman Rustamov said.

Rustamov made the remarks in Baku Feb. 3 at the CBA enlarged meeting, dedicated to the results of 2017 and the forthcoming tasks.

Rustamov said that in 2017 the manat money supply increased by 8.7 percent, which greatly exceeds the growth rates of the non-oil sector.

'During the year, there was enough money for making various payments timely, he said. "In terms of supply exceeding over demand in the currency market, the manats rate has strengthened by four percent since the beginning of the year, which has led to a decrease in inflation expectations and a level of dollarization."

In 2017 the level of deposits of individuals amounted to 7.56 billion manats (an increase of 1.5 percent over the year), according to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.

The amount of deposits in national currency at the end of the year amounted to 2.5 billion manats (66.9 percent-growth for the year). The share of deposits in national currency increased from 20.4 percent to 33.5 percent for the year.

(1.7001 AZN = $1 on Feb. 3)

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