(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 17. Accessing market - major part of asset liability management in Central Asian & Caucasus countries, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said during an online briefing, Trend's reports.

“Central Asian and Caucasus countries have buffers. Therefore, accessing the market is a major part of their asset liability management, and when market conditions are favorable, countries are benefiting from that. Of course, this is something that all countries need to deal with carefully by strengthening their institutions in terms of debt management, in terms of also liability management,” he said.

Azour pointed out that most of the risks are related to the global trends in terms of demand and supply in terms of oil.

“We saw recently an increase in the oil supply with the unwinding of the OPEC-plus agreement that has led to softening in the oil price. Yet, for oil-exporting countries, because of the increase in oil production, it has reduced the negative impact. And in certain countries, it has helped in accelerating growth in 2025,” he added.

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