Central and West Asia

Sum of Measures 1—5 (Total Package)

Total Package in USD Million: 1,597.26
% of GDP (2020): 3.75%
% of Regional Total Package: 3.02%
Package Per Capita in USD: 159.36
Note: Measures 9 and 10 are added to the sum of Measures 1-5.
Measure Amount (Local) Amount (USD) Details Update Source
01 - Liquidity Support info_outline
01A - Short-term lending info_outline
01B - Support policies for short-term lending info_outline
01C - Forex operations info_outline

April 2020, The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), with the participation of the State Oil Fund, conducted scheduled and extraordinary foreign exchange auctions, and satisfied all demands for foreign currency at the announced 1.7AZN/USD rate.

02 - Credit creation info_outline AZN500,000,000 USD294,117,647
02A - Financial sector lending/funding info_outline
02B - Support policies for long-term lending info_outline
02B1 - Interest rate adjustments

No amount/estimate: (i) 19 March 2020, The CBA left the refinancing rate unchanged at 7.25%, but raised the floor of the interest rate corridor (within a de facto floor system) by 125 basis points (bps) to 6.75%. 1 May 2020, The CBA lowered the ceiling of the interest rate corridor by 100 bps to 8%; (ii) 19 June 2020, The CBA decided to reduce the discount rate from 7.25% to 7%. The lower limit of the interest rate corridor was set at 6.5%, and the upper limit of the interest rate corridor was set at 7.5%; (iii) 18 September 2020, The CBA has lowered its interest rates by 0.25 percentage points, from 6.75% to 6.5%.

02B2 - Other policies to support long-term lending

No amount/estimate: (i) 19 March 2020. The authorities have announced their intention to extend the blanket deposit guarantee until 4 December 2020 (the interest rate cap for national currency denominated deposits 10% and for foreign currency denominated deposits 2.5%) irrespective of deposits’ amount, currency and banks’ financial standing; (ii) 23 April 2020, Suspension of inspections of credit institutions; (iii) 30 December 2020, Regulatory requirements for the classification of loans have been relaxed and dividend payments have been limited until 1 April 2021. Loan classification concessions were applied to interest-subsidized business loans and restructuring of loans issued at the expense of state funds.

02C - Loan guarantees AZN500,000,000 USD294,117,647

(i) 6 April 2020, Entrepreneurs get state guarantee for 60% of their new bank loans and the government subsidizes half of the interest on guaranteed loans from the state budget; overall state support at AZN500 million (USD294 million); (ii) No amount/estimate: May 2020, The CBA also announced that it will extend its guarantees on insurance premiums.

03 - Direct long-term lending info_outline
03A - Long-term lending info_outline
03B - Forbearance

No amount/estimate: (i) 23 April 2020, The CBA announced a moratorium on late fees and interest rate penalties; (ii) 30 December 2020, Credit organizations were advised not to accrue additional penalty interest, penalties, and other penalties until 1 April 2021, as well as to submit negative information on borrowers to the credit bureau with a special note.

04 - Equity support info_outline
05 - Health and income support AZN1,206,850,000 USD709,911,765
05A - Health support AZN58,300,000 USD34,294,118

(i) No amount/estimate: 6 July 2020, Installation of 10 modular hospital complexes in various regions of the country. It is expected to create 2,000 additional beds for the treatment of coronavirus patients; (ii) 6 August 2020, The government reported that medical personnel involved in the fight against COVID-19 received increased salaries from March to June 2020. 64,038 medical staff have so far received salaries of AZN58.3 million. On 8 January 2021, the measure has been extended to 31 March 2021; (iii) No amount/estimate: 6 August 2020, The government reported that 215 medical staff with extensive experience in COVID-19 from Turkey, the Russian Federation, People's Republic of China, Italy, and Cuba were brought to the country to work with Azerbaijan's medical personnel; (iv) No amount/estimate: 12 January 2021, The import of new vaccines against coronavirus (COVID-19) and syringes for these vaccines will be exempt from duty for a period of 1 to 2 years from 1 January 2021.

05B - Income support AZN1,148,550,000 USD675,617,647
05B1 - Tax and contribution deferrals and policy changes
05B2 - Tax and contribution rates reduction

No amount/estimate: April 2020, Tax exemptions for micro-enterprises and value-added tax (VAT) exemption for some food and medicinal products, as well as the raw materials that are necessary.

05B3 - Subsidies to individuals and households

No amount/estimate: (i) April 2020, Lump-sum payments in the amount of living wage - AZN190 (USD112) to 200,000 unemployed citizens of the country. The payment is considered for two months. The social package aims to relieve the impact of the novel coronavirus on the social life of people by multiple tools, including creation of 50,000 paid public jobs, tuition support program for students from socially vulnerable families, financial support program for mortgage and credit guarantee mechanism, program to support communal fees, primarily for electricity consumption of the population, and financial support program for vital passenger transport activities; (ii) 04 May 2021, To reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable families, the Azerbaijan government adopted the resolution to cover the tuition fees of students from families classified under socially vulnerable groups and receiving paid education for the spring semester (semester) of 2020/2021 academic year .

05B4 - Subsidies to businesses AZN1,148,550,000 USD675,617,647

(i) 6 April 2020, AZN1 billion (USD588 million) for the government's subsidization of 10% of the interest for one year of existing company loans; (ii) 19 May 2020, USD50 million, or about AZN85 million (of the USD200 million swap with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)) is allocated as support to local firms, including smaller viable enterprises experiencing temporary difficulties; (iii) No amount/estimate: 6 August 2020, The government announced a financial support package for pandemic-affected industries that did not implement significant reductions in the number of employees. Financial support will be paid in equal installments in two stages, covering August and September; (iv) 11 August 2020, The government announced a second phase of financial support to individual (micro) entrepreneurs. The first phase of the program has already released AZN63.55 million of cash transfers to 106,907 individual (micro) entrepreneurs.

05B5 - Indirect income support
05B6 - No breakdown (income support)
05C - No breakdown (health and income support)
06 - Budget reallocation info_outline

No amount/estimate: (i) August 2020, A proposed bill to amend the state budget for 2020 is being discussed in Azerbaijan's National Assembly (Milli Majlis); (ii) 6 August 2020, The Parliament passed a revised 2020 budget which reflected a lower oil price (USD35 a barrel) and growth assumptions (-5%).

07 - Central bank financing government
07A - Direct lending and reserve drawdown
07B - Secondary purchase: government securities
08 - International Assistance Received AZN788,137,000 USD463,610,000
08A - Swaps info_outline AZN340,000,000 USD200,000,000

19 May 2020, The CBA and the EBRD have signed a USD200 million swap agreement to increase access to financial resources for the real sector during the coronavirus pandemic.

08B - International loans/grants AZN448,137,000 USD263,610,000
08B1 - Asian Development Bank AZN439,637,000 USD258,610,000

(i) April 2020, Country Support under TA 9950-REG: Regional Support to Address the Outbreak of COVID-19 and Potential Outbreaks of Other Communicable Diseases (USD1.86 million); (ii) 3 June 2020, Developing a Disaster Risk Transfer Facility in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region (Additional Financing) (USD0.07 million); (iii) 13 July 2020, Addressing Health Threats in the Central, West and East Asia Region (USD0.13 million); (iv) 24 July 2020, Due Diligence and Capacity Development of Trade Finance Program Banks (Subproject 3) (USD0.07 million); (v) Supporting Startup Ecosystem in the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Region to Mitigate Impact of COVID-19 and Support Economic Revival (USD0.05 million); (vi) 26 November 2020, Addressing Health Threats in the Central, West and East Asia Region (Additional Financing) (USD0.03 million); (vii) 22 June 2021, COVID-19 Staple Food Security Project (USD5.90 million); (viii) 7 July 2021, COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program (USD0.25 million) [update]; (ix) 7 September 2021, Due Diligence and Capacity Development of Trade Finance Program Banks (Subproject 4) (USD0.19 million) [update]; (x) 22 September 2021, Fostering Regional Cooperation and Integration through Knowledge and Capacity Building of Trade and Supply Chain Finance Program Banks (USD 0.06 million); (xi) 3 November 2021, COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program (USD250 million) [update].

08B2 - Other AZN8,500,000 USD5,000,000

(i) No amount/estimate: March 2020, Testing and personal protective equipment supplies from WHO; (ii) 21 August 2020, USAID provided more than USD5 million in total assistance for the country’s COVID-19 response includes (a) USD3 million in health assistance which is helping prepare laboratory systems, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communications, and more; (b) USD1 million in Economic Support Fund (ESF) to support advisory services and technical assistance to small- and medium-sized enterprises; and (c) more than USD1 million in Migration and Refugee Assistance (MRA) humanitarian assistance that will help vulnerable migrants, displaced people and host communities during the pandemic.

09 - International Assistance Provided AZN8,500,000 USD5,000,000
09A - Swaps info_outline
09B - International loans/grants AZN8,500,000 USD5,000,000

March 2020, Azerbaijan is contributing to global efforts to address COVID-19, coordinating with neighboring countries, and has pledged USD5 million to World Health Organization's strategic preparedness and response plan.

10 - No breakdown AZN1,000,000,000 USD588,235,294

March 2020, AZN1 billion is part of the announced support amounting to AZN2.5 billion to reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 outbreak on the national economy, the entrepreneurship and banking sectors, as well as for strengthening the social protection of the people.

11 - Other Economic Measures AZN114,147,378 USD67,145,516

(i) March 2020, Establishment of the Coronavirus Response Fund under the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan of 19 March 2020. The government itself is asking for donations from citizens, organizations, and businesses to help it deal with the disease in Azerbaijan. According to President Ilham Aliyev, the basic goal of the fund is for the people of Azerbaijan to within the limits of their capability, demonstrate their civil solidarity and generosity which are foundations of their society. The fund has raised AZN114 million as of 20 July 2020; (ii) April 2020, The CBA and commercial banks have shifted to a seven-day work week, including to allow individuals and businesses to convert their manat holdings into foreign currency; (iii) 23 April 2020, The CBA also announced that it will extend its guarantees on insurance premiums.

12 - Non-Economic Measures
12A - Measures affecting travel and transport (local and international)

(i) 24 March 2020, The government imposed travel restriction measures, including border closures, restriction of domestic movements, closure of airports and transportation hubs; (ii) 4 May 2020, The authorities began a staged relaxation of restrictions, including reestablishing freedom of private vehicular travel between cities and districts; (iii) 29 May 2020, The majority of the States have temporarily closed the borders and extended the postponement of international flights until 15 June 2020 (except cargo transportation and charter flights); (iv) 19 June 2020, Announced closure of borders until August 1 because COVID-19 cases rose during the first half of June 2020 when Azerbaijan announced to reopen; (v) 07 September 2020, Restrictions on travel to and from Baku, Sumgayit cities and Absheron district are being lifted (except for intercity and inter-district passenger transportation); (vi) 16 October 2020, Passenger transportation services of the Baku Metro are to be suspended starting from 00:00, 19 October 2020 until 06:00, 2 November 2020; (vii) 8 December 2020, The government announced stricter mobility measures starting 14 December 2020 to 18 January 2021, i.e. entry and exit into the various cities around the country; (viii) 16 June 2021, The Azerbaijan government announced the loosening of restriction on travel. Travelers from Bahrain, Hungary, Israel, Qatar, The United Arab Emirates, The United Kingdom, The United States of America will be allowed to enter the country starting 21 June 2021, subject to various requirements; (ix) 4 July 2021, The government has adopted a decision to close public transport on scheduled days from 5 to 31 July 2021 under a special quarantine regime. On 22 July 2021, the special quarantine regime applied in the country was extended until 01 September 2021.

12B - Measures affecting business and workplace
12C - Others

(i) To contain the spread of COVID-19, the authorities have introduced a special quarantine regime (until 15 June 2020). It includes border closures, required quarantine of returning citizens, prohibition of mass gatherings; (ii) The COVID-19 Operational Headquarters has been created under the Cabinet of Ministers, and working groups within various ministries and the CBA have been tasked with developing specific measures. These restrictions are being slowly relaxed starting 4 May 2020; (iii) July 2020, Because of the increasing cases of infections, the government announced the decision to prolong a strict quarantine regime until 20 July 2020 and special quarantine regime until 1 August 2020. (iv) 8 December 2020, The special quarantine regime in the country is extended until 06:00 of 31 January 2021. During this period, all commercial facilities, public services institutions, including restaurants, cafes and tea houses are authorized to serve customers on delivery services and online sale only.