BAKU: The bi-currency basket, revived by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, does not describe fully the disposition of currencies of the main consumer good suppliers in the country, but is much higher than the real import currency basket.
According to customs statistics, the main suppliers of consumer goods in the country are Russia, Turkey and the EU (euro zone), but the bi-currency basket does not include Russian and Turkish currencies. The currencies of the EU, Russia and Turkey form the import currency basket.
It includes three currencies, weighted by their formal share in the supply of consumer goods to Azerbaijan: Russian ruble and Turkish lira by 35%, the euro by another 30%.
On 7 May the CBA announced the exchange rate of ruble at the level of AZN 0.0206, the exchange rate of lira at the level of AZN 0.3884 and euro at the level of AZN 1.1881. As a result, the import currency basket for today costs AZN 0.4996 (the peak level) against AZN 0.4960 on 6 May, AZN 0.4823 on 5 May, and AZN 0.4968 on 1 May (previous highest level).
Nevertheless, supplies to the country from abroad are profitable even if customs taxes amount up to 50% of the value of deliveries (in reality up to 40% due to the non-financial costs). Customs burden in the country makes 11-17% of total import cost.
