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Day: September 23, 2026
Azerbaijan will keep its key policy rate unchanged throughout 2026, Report informs, citing the Asian Development Outlook of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
ADB emphasizes that monetary policy directions in the region until the end of 2026 will be multidirectional, driven by differences in domestic inflation levels and consumer demand.
According to the review, this year opportunities for further significant tightening of monetary policy remain given inflationary pressures in states such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
At the same time, policy rates will remain mostly stable in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, China, and Thailand.
A gradual easing of monetary policy this year is forecast for Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. In 2027, monetary policy in the region will begin shifting toward easing against the backdrop of gradually weakening inflationary trends, the ADB indicates.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan will continue the path of easing in 2027 after rate cuts in 2026, providing the most significant cumulative rate reductions in the region. Rate cuts are also expected in Georgia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Tajikistan. In a number of other countries, rates will remain virtually unchanged, while in Azerbaijan, moderate growth is forecast against the backdrop of a favorable situation in the foreign exchange market and balanced inflation risks, the review says.
Overall, ADB analysts believe policy rates will gradually approach levels recorded before the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, though specific paces and scopes of easing will be directly determined by inflation trajectories, economic growth dynamics, and external risks.
The Board of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan at its last meeting held on July 31 decided to keep the key rate at 6.5%.
In 2025, the Central Bank held 8 meetings on the key rate. At six of them, the parameter remained unchanged, while at two, the regulator decided to lower it – each time by 25 basis points.
The next review of the interest rate corridor parameters is scheduled for today, September 23.
On September 20, Typhoon Dujuan swept along the central Pacific coast of Japan’s Honshu Island, leaving nine people dead and four missing.
According to Report, police in Kanagawa and Chiba prefectures confirmed the casualties.
Most of the deaths were caused by landslides triggered by heavy rainfall, while some victims drowned in vehicles trapped in flooded lowlands.
More than 500 homes were severely damaged by landslides, and around 25,000 households in two prefectures were left without electricity.
Over 100 flooded and stalled vehicles remain stranded on roads across the region.
Armenian orphanage worker assaults disabled child
A care worker at the Kharberd specialised orphanage in Armenia brutally assaulted a disabled child who is unable to walk or speak.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, which oversees the institution, confirmed the incident and said it had taken place several weeks ago. The care worker was immediately dismissed and is now under house arrest.
“A disabled child was beaten with a mop in a place where they were supposed to receive care and support. In reality, this is the kind of care the child needs to be protected from,” said Mushegh Hovsepyan, head of the NGO Disability Rights Agenda.
Rights activist questions purpose of such institutions
“If we do not want violence, these institutions should not exist at all. Family-based upbringing and alternative forms of care are possible for all children if the state makes the necessary effort and allocates the necessary resources. The state’s obligations do not begin after a disabled child has been beaten, nor do they end with the dismissal of the alleged abuser or their placement under house arrest,” Hovsepyan said.
Until such institutions cease to exist, however, he says the state is obliged to establish a system that:
- “prevents violence and identifies signs of it in a timely manner;
- provides safe mechanisms enabling all children to report abuse;
- guarantees a proper investigation and the child’s swift recovery.”
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Details of the incident
Local media have established further details about what happened at the orphanage. The incident is now known to have taken place on 13 August.
The child who was assaulted has cerebral palsy and is unable to walk independently or speak.
The care worker who assaulted the child had worked at the orphanage since September 2012.
“In room D-1 of the orphanage, the care worker initially struck the resident, F.M., several times. After he fell to the floor, she picked up a floor mop and continued striking him on his lower back, spine and left shoulder blade. As a result, F.M. suffered severe physical pain and emotional distress,” journalists reported.
Child’s condition described as satisfactory
Nver Kostanyan, spokesman for the minister of labour and social affairs, wrote on social media that the orphanage administration had “identified the incident” and immediately reported it to law enforcement:
“The care worker has been dismissed, while it is for law enforcement agencies to determine whether criminal charges are warranted. The child is in good health and continues to receive care at the specialised orphanage.”
Kostanyan said such incidents were a “red line” for the ministry:
“Any instance of violence is unacceptable and will be subject to an appropriate criminal-law assessment.”
Expert opinion
Mushegh Hovsepyan, head of the NGO Disability Rights Agenda, warns that disabled children often avoid speaking about abuse they have experienced.
“There are many reasons. Among other things, they think they will not be believed, because what they say is often called into question,” he wrote on Facebook.
Hovsepyan stressed that the public only learnt about the abuse at the orphanage after it was reported by the media. The rights activist believes such cases should be closely scrutinised by state bodies, particularly now that there is no mechanism for public oversight.
A group of civil society experts previously operated at the initiative of the Labour Ministry, carrying out regular monitoring of care centres for children and elderly people.
“The monitoring group was disbanded about three years ago. Easily. But its work is not being resumed with the same ease,” Hovsepyan said.
Hovsepyan himself was a member of the group. He recalls that in 2021 it visited the Kharberd specialised orphanage and documented a case of discrimination against a minor in its care:
“At the same orphanage, staff wore gloves when touching a teenager living with HIV who had recently been transferred there. Separate dishes were used for him. His clothes were washed separately. Other children were told to stay away from him. And yet the world has long known that HIV is not transmitted through this kind of contact.”
The orphanage staff themselves told the experts about this because they believed they were ‘doing everything right’.
Following the recent violent assault, Hovsepyan says he is not convinced that conditions at the specialised institution have improved:
“I am also not sure whether all new employees receive the necessary training before they start working with children. Nor am I sure that the state is taking steps to ensure that children are in safe hands.”
