Azeri Economy Continues to Falter Despite Rise in Oil and Gas Output

BAKU – Energy-rich Azerbaijan’s oil and gas output has steadily risen by 0.7% to 24.7 million tons in the first half of the year, while natural gas production rose by by 500 million cubic meters, according to the Azeri state statistics committee.

Despite a major spike in production from January to July, the country’s faltering economy contracted by a staggering 3 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.

Azerbaijan expects to produce 41 million tons of oil this year and 29 cubic meters of gas. The State Statistics Committee said it was also the first rise since May last year.

Sustained low oil prices and a massive currency devaluation have caused the South Caucasus country’s economic growth to slow to 1.1 per cent last year, a precipitous drop from 2.8 per cent in 2014, news agency Reuters reported.

Azeri authorities are forecasting a 1.8 per cent growth this year.

By Nicholas Waller