Azerbaijan will gradually restore its sovereign rating, Samir Sharifov, the country's finance minister, told reporters June 14 in Baku.

"With the stabilization of the [economic] situation, the growth of revenues from the export, and thanks to the positive results of the reforms that are being implemented under the supervision of the president, our rating will be gradually restored," said Sharifov.

He noted the downgrade of sovereign ratings by international ratings agencies affected not only Azerbaijan, but also other commodity-exporting countries.

Naturally, the fall in oil prices, its negative impact on the economies of countries and reducing their revenues - all this, of course, has led to the rating's downgrade, added the minister.

Fitch Ratings assigned Azerbaijan's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) as 'BB+', Standard & Poor's - at the level of BB+/B and Moody's Investors Service confirmed Azerbaijan's long-term issuer ratings and senior unsecured debt ratings at Ba1.