Ilham Aliyev: Azerbaijan can pay off its external debt in one day

Political and economic stability in Azerbaijan has been maintained for over 30 years, Azerbaijan's national debt stands at about 20% of GDP, and external debt at 5.6% of GDP.

As Report conveys, this was stated by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, speaking at the II Azerbaijan International Investment Forum.

The head of state called the country's financial system strong. "In fact, we can pay off our external debt in one day, since our foreign exchange reserves are almost 20 times its volume," he said.

Ilham Aliyev also noted the stability of the national currency. Since April 2017, the exchange rate has remained unchanged at 1.7 manats per US dollar. According to the President, it will maintain its stability thanks to the positive trade balance.

Speaking about other development factors, the head of state emphasized that political and economic stability has been maintained in Azerbaijan for over 30 years. He recalled the difficult first years of independence: the occupation of territories by Armenia, ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis. In the early 1990s, with a population of 8 million, the country had 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons. The President called this a humanitarian catastrophe and noted that the economy was in complete chaos at the time. According to him, that period is in the past.