Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan will not reduce social expenses in 2017 that are saved up in the state budget, said Salim Muslumov, the country’s minister of labor and social protection of population.
He made the remarks Nov. 17 at a press conference in Baku.
“There can’t be any social reductions, because the policy of the Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev envisages that social sphere should always be in the spotlight,” noted the minister. “I think that we won’t face a reduction in social expenses even in the future.”
He added that the government is doing everything to improve the welfare of the population.
“Despite the difficult situation, the decline in the GDP related to the global economic crisis, we increased social expenses for 2017,” explained Muslumov. “We will hold indexing, strengthen social position of a certain group of population. All these expenses are incorporated in the draft state budget for 2017.”
Expenses for social protection and social maintenance are forecasted in the amount of 2,053.1 million Azerbaijani manats (1.7039 AZN/USD on Nov. 17), which accounts for 12.4 percent of total amount of budgetary expenditures for 2017. These expenditures increased by 8.2 percent as compared to the forecast for 2016.