Azerbaijan to pay IMF $64 mln in 2004

Azerbaijan will pay about $64 million in 2004 in debt on credits received from the International Finance Corporation, Alim Kuliyev, first deputy CEO of the National Bank of Azerbaijan, told journalists on Friday. Bank CEO Elman Rustamov said earlier that at the start of November 2004 the country's debt to the IMF amounted to $206 million. "In the first 11 months of 2004 the National Bank paid back about $59 million in principal and interest. In December the bank will make a small principal payment and will pay 10 billion - 12 billion manat in interest. As a result, about $64 million will be paid in 2004," Kuliyev said. The official exchange rate on December 3 was 4,903 manat to the dollar.