Another Dynasty Shaken as Oil Crash Tests Azeri Leader's Rule - Bloomberg Business

Another Dynasty Shaken as Oil Crash Tests Azeri Leader's Rule - Bloomberg Business:

"For Azerbaijan, plunging foreign reserves and two currency devaluations last year provided a stern test for the energy-reliant nation. For its long-time leader, the economic and political challenges are just starting.
President Ilham Aliyev is on unfamiliar ground, facing a crisis that turned the manat into the world’s worst performer last year. He’s now confronted by the worst dissent in more than 10 years as prices surge in the Caspian Sea nation of 9.5 million that his family has ruled for more than four decades. The rumblings in Azerbaijan show the issues facing oil dynasties as currencies from Riyadh to Abu Dhabi come under pressure from crude’s slump to a 12-year low.
“The president has no experience of dealing with a crisis of this kind -- he’s become accustomed to living standards and real wages rising year after year,” said Alex Nice, an Economist Intelligence Unit analyst covering Azerbaijan. “Dependence on oil is similar in scale to Saudi Arabia, but Azerbaijan has smaller sovereign reserves.”"



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