Azerbaijan's economy contracts by 3.2pc in Jan-Feb

BAKU: Azerbaijan's economy contracted by 3.2 percent year-on-year in January-February compared with growth of 4.2 percent in the same period last year, the State Statistics Committee said on Friday.

"The decline in gross domestic product in January-February was caused by a decline in output and services in the oil and gas industry, construction sector and transport," the committee said in a statement.

The oil sector declined by 1.3 percent while the non-oil sector declined by 5.5 percent.

Economic growth slowed to 1.1 percent last year from 2.8 percent in 2014, well below official forecasts, because of low oil prices and the devaluation of the national manat currency.

The country forecasts 1.8 percent growth in 2016.