On October 2, the opening ceremony of the 74th International Astronautical Congress was held in Baku. The speech of President Ilham Aliyev, who spoke in English at the opening, was translated into Azerbaijani by a translator. The translator translated the statistics given by the President at minute 28:05 of his speech as follows: "Our foreign currency and gold reserves are 10 times more than GDP." "Our foreign currency and gold reserves are 10 times more than the GDP" were also reflected in the news, published by APA News Agency, about President Ilham Aliyev's speech at the opening ceremony.
Fakt Yoxla examined whether the news spread by the media organization was true.
In the original transcript in English and the translation of the transcript posted on the official website of the President, this information is stated as follows: "Foreign exchange reserves in Azerbaijan exceed our direct foreign debt 10 times." In other words, the information recorded in the transcript is different from the information published by APA. Because, in the transcript, it is noted that the foreign currency reserves are 10 times higher than the direct foreign debt, not the GDP. On the Facebook page of President Ilham Aliyev, it was mentioned that direct foreign debt is equal to 10 percent of GDP.
According to the State Statistical Committee, the gross domestic product (GDP) in Azerbaijan in 2022 was equal to 133.8 billion manats, that is, 78.7 billion dollars. In the same period, the amount of foreign currency and gold reserves of Azerbaijan was equal to 58 billion dollars. That is, at the beginning of this year, Azerbaijan's foreign exchange gold reserves do not exceed GDP by ten times, on the contrary, the country's GDP is 36% more than currency-gold reserves.
According to the Ministry of Finance, by the beginning of 2023, the direct foreign debt of Azerbaijan was equal to 6.7 billion dollars, which is 8.6 times less than foreign currency and gold reserves.
In short, Azerbaijan's currency-gold reserves are 36% less than GDP, and 8.6 times higher than foreign debt.
Fakt Yoxla concludes according to the study that APA News Agency published the President's statement without clarification. In the original transcript of the speech, the President did not express such an opinion.
