Posted by 
Discussions continued in the second part of today’s sitting of the parliament. MP Yevda Abramov said the government’s report was satisfactory. He said preventive measures had been taken in connection with the global financial crisis.
“Otherwise, Azerbaijan’s economy might have collapsed like the economy of Armenia,” he said.
MP Musa Guliyev said Gandja-Nakhchivan flight should be launched. The parliamentarian also said price of medications had increased, the monopoly influenced it.
MP Igbal Agazadeh said the figures shown in the report had no link to the government’s activity.
“There are state committees which do not work even on the level of a department of the Cabinet of Ministers,” he said.
Agazadeh also said 60 percent of staff in most industrial enterprises had been reduced.
“I regard the government’s activity as unsatisfactory,” he said.
MP Ganira Pashayeva said loans should be granted for the development of agriculture. She said viticulture, which once developed in Tovuz, should be revived. “Aghdam Water Storage constructed for irrigation of sowing areas near the border with the enemy can stop its activity. The construction of this water storage must be completed and the problems regarding the irrigation of sowing areas in those territories must be solved”. The MP also noted that financial resources should be allocated for Guba Mass Grave.
MP Gudrat Hasanguliyev stated that the entrepreneurs were in need of long-term credits: “Production associations in the region must be freed from taxes. Structural reforms must be carried out in the Cabinet”.
After the discussions, Chairman of the National Bank’s Board of Directors delivered a speech and noted that the double-figure development started in Azerbaijan’s economy after the global financial crisis emerged. According to him, the government has an anti-crisis program and it will be made public in the days coming. “Azerbaijan has very serious opportunities to neutralize the financial crisis. The financial crisis requires easing the credit policy. Banks fulfill their obligations, liquidity is secured, currency resources are strong. The oil price is around $45 and this satisfies us. If the oil price stays at this level, favorable balance will make up $5-6 billion by the end of the year. Mortgage mechanism is being considered. The situation is complicated in the real estate market. The amount of deposit insurance AZN 6000 may be increased by several times”.
After the discussions, the Azerbaijani Parliament approved the report on activity of the Cabinet of Ministers in 2008. 102 members of the Parliament voted for the report and eight were against.
