Economists and politicians on the idea of putting Aliyev’s portrait on the manat
At a session of the National Assembly, Siyavush Novruzov, a deputy from the ruling party, Yeni Azerbaijan, declared that the portrait of Heydar Aliyev should be on the national currency of Azerbaijan. He further provided the examples of the national currencies of Turkey, the USA, and even reminded listeners about the image of the czars on the Russian ruble.
Radio Liberty took an interest in the opinions of political actors. “In the beginning of the nineties, the images of famous people –
Nizami Ganjavi and Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh
– were depicted on Azerbaijani banknotes. When re-denominating the manat, the government explained this decision using the effect of the banknotes’ depreciation on the perception of these historical figures. In connection with this story, I don’t believe it’s advisable to return to the idea of having portraits of political personae on banknotes”, stated the chairman of the National Council,
Jamil Hasanli
.
“I don’t think that Siyavuş Novruzov’s proposal, to depict Heydar Aliyev’s portrait on banknotes, is a sign of the re-denomination of the manat”, expert economist
Natiq Jafarli
told Radio Liberty. The manat has not lost so much value that it needs to be re-denominated: “Maybe what’s under discussion is the release into circulation of banknotes with a higher nominal value – 500 manat and higher. By throwing such banknotes into the market, the government is trying to increase the monetary mass in the country and stimulate economic activity”. Novruzov’s proposal is not connected with the strengthening or weakening of the manat. Normal economic relations and laws don’t work in Azerbaijan. If the proposal of the deputy from the ruling party will be adopted, it will cover larger banknotes, with a nominal value of 500 manat, for example”, he added.
In response to the question of whether the appearance of large banknotes would lead to inflation, the expert said that everything will depend on the amount of new banknotes: “If lots of banknotes with a large nominal value will be printed, then this will increase inflationary pressure. Banknote with a large nominal value can be used for large-scale operations. It’s just that the world is going in a different direction – in the direction of abolishing large banknotes, because their presence is one of the characteristic signs that open the road to corruption. The Eurozone is quietly removing 500 euro notes from circulation. I don’t know what will happen in Azerbaijan, but if money will be printed in large amounts and released onto the market, this will lead to inflation”, said Jafarli.
Eldaniz Guliyev
, leader of the Alliance of Intelligentsia and member of the National Council, declared Siyavush Novruzov’s proposal absurd and stated: “There’s no need to display Heydar Aliyev’s portrait on the national currency. Instead of this, it would be better for those in government to think about preserving the manat’s stability”.
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This article reflects the views of the author and as such may not reflect that of Meydan TV.
This article was originally published in Russian by
Radio Azadliq.
