What is the Azerbaijan manat (AZM)?

Credit Ratings & Outlook

In the latest credit ratings from December 1970, Moody's gives Azerbaijan a Ba1 rating, with a positive outlook. Fitch has a positive outlook with a BBB- rating. Finally, S&P last issued a BBB- rating, with a negative outlook.

Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country’s access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets.

GDP

In 2010 the total GDP was $51,774,221,668 in US Dollars, while the per capita GDP was $5,718. It grew by 5.00% over the previous year.

Unemployment

The latest unemployment rate for 2009 is 6.00%.

Consumer Price Index

The latest consumer price index for 2010 is 163.54.

Political Structure

The current head of the government is Prime Minister Artur Rasizade, and the head of state is President Ilham Aliyev (in an executive role).

Currency Details

The manat, also denoted by AZM, is the official currency of Azerbaijan. One manat is divided into 100 gopiks. Banknotes below 50 manats have disappeared from circulation.

Before the use of the manat, the ruble was the official currency of Azerbaijan. It was when Azerbaijan became independent from the Soviet Union that the manat came to be the new currency of their country.

Sovereign Ratings for Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan is not rated.

What does it look like?

Political Structure

The republic of Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union on August 30, 1991. The government has an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. The executive branch consists of a President, Prime Minister and a cabinet. The president serves five years in office and is elected through popular vote. The prime minister is appointed by the president and confirmed by the National Assembly. The legislative branch is a unicameral National Assembly with 125 seats. The members of the assembly serve five-year terms and are elected by popular vote. The judicial branch is a supreme court, which handles all of the country’s legal issues.

Prominent Figures

The president of Azerbaijan is Ilham Aliyev who has been in office since October 31, 2003. The prime minister is Artur Rasizade who has been in office since November 4, 2004. The central bank in Azerbaijan is the National Bank of Azerbaijan. The chairman of the bank is E. Rustamov. Rustamov reports to Alivev about any disturbances within the bank.

Unique Characteristics

Azerbaijan is an industrialized economy with many different industrial sectors. They include machine building, oil and other mining, petroleum refining, textile production, and chemical processing. Agriculture accounts for one-third of Azerbaijan’s economy. Oil is the factor reason behind Azerbaijan’s economic success. The GDP growth is also another factor helping the economy grow at a rapid pace of 11% a year.

Key Economic Factors

The main factors associated with Azerbaijan’s economy are the GDP and the foreign trade of oil. Trade with Russia and other former Soviet republics is declining year by year. However, trade with Turkey and other nations in Europe is on an upward trend.

Oil is the major export in Azerbaijan. In 1997 Azerbaijan’s oil production declined, in turn affecting foreign trade. Nonetheless, year by year there has been an increase in the production. Talks with other foreign firms who have committed $60 billion to long-term oilfield development will help in generating the capital needed to spark future industrial development.

Due to the regulatory reforms, the government has completed privatization of agricultural lands and small and medium-sized enterprises. In August 2000, the government launched a second stage privatization program, in which many large state enterprises will be privatized.