Details added (first version posted on 18:12)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 28
Trend:
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed a decree approving the main directions for using the funds and investment policy of the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) for 2018.
According to the decree, the forecast aggregate value (weighted average volume) of investment portfolio of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) for 2018 is set at 60.67 billion manats.
In 2018, SOFAZ funds will be mainly used for financing some measures related to accommodation and improvement of social and living conditions of refugees and IDPs; transfers to the state budget of 2018; transfers to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan to ensure financial stability; financing reconstruction of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system; financing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project; financing the state program on education of Azerbaijani youth in foreign countries in 2007-2015; financing Azerbaijan’s share in the Southern Gas Corridor projects.
Under the decree, the currency structure of SOFAZ’s investment portfolio is as follows: up to 50 percent of assets can be in US dollars, 35 percent in euros, 5 percent in British pounds, and 10 percent in other currencies.
Meanwhile, SOFAZ’s investment portfolio can consist of four sub-portfolios: a portfolio of debt instruments and money market instruments (60 percent of total portfolio value), a portfolio of shares (25 percent), a portfolio of real estate (10 percent), and a portfolio of gold (5 percent).