BAKU, Azerbaijan, Aug.4
Trend:
The state budget of Azerbaijan needs to be amended to avoid damages from COVID-19 pandemic, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said.
Sharifov made the remark at the meeting of Azerbaijani Parliament’s Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship held on August 4, Trend reports.
According to the minister, the coronavirus pandemic has aggravated negative trends in the global economy. The global and national economies have suffered large-scale damage from COVID-19, and this requires to make amendments to Azerbaijan’s budget.
The minister noted that Azerbaijan's payment balance has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic-hit global economy.
"The quarantine regime introduced this year has led to a weakening of business activity in the country. In the first six months of this year, the execution of the state budget exceeded the forecast," he said.
"It should be noted that although the execution of the state budget in the first half of the year was positive, the macroeconomic indicators give us the grounds to predict the occurrence of financial problems in the second half of the year. Decreases are observed in most sectors of the economy. Therefore, the Ministry of Economy has revised its forecasts in the new conditions, and it is also revising oil prices," added Sharifov.