Istanbul, Turkey, Dec.8
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
Against the background of recovery of the global economy, State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) will increase the stake of shares in its investment portfolio from the current five percent to 10 percent, SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov told Trend on Dec.6.
This is envisaged by the draft investment policy of the fund for 2014 adopted by SOFAZ Supervisory Board and submitted for the approval of the Azerbaijani president.
The stake of shares will be increased through decreasing the share of bonds to 80 percent, Movsumov said.
Today some 85 percent of the total value of SOFAZ investment portfolio is formed by money market instruments and debt market. Under the current investment policy, up to five percent of the investment portfolio may be invested in shares, up to five percent in real estate, up to five percent in gold.
"The global market is getting out of its protracted crisis. We already see certain features indicating that the economy is recovering, therefore, we believe that there is a real opportunity to start to buy shares in anticipation that the economy will grow," Movsumov said.
Azerbaijani State Oil Fund was established in 1999. The main goals of the State Oil Fund include: accumulation of resources and the placement of the fund's assets abroad in order to minimize the negative affect on the economy, the prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.