BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 16. The implementation of infrastructure projects will be envisaged in next year's budget, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said addressing the meeting dedicated to the results of six months of this year, Trend reports.
"Work on the next year's budget should start now and the government should lead all the work. There should be proper coordination between all the agencies and the next year's budget should enable us to fulfill the tasks ahead. After adjustments have been made, I believe that this year's state budget will be the largest budget in the history of Azerbaijan, and we want to channel the increased opportunities into the development of our country and the social well-being of our people with maximum efficiency. In the next year's budget – of course, budget parameters have yet to be discussed, there is still time – I still see social policy as the main direction. A lot of work has been done in this direction, in this area in recent years. However, we should always view this area as a priority. Therefore, have a look, make suggestions as to what additional steps can be taken to ensure social protection of our population is at the necessary level, especially to solve social issues of people of the most vulnerable category.
Of course, the implementation of infrastructure projects will be envisaged in next year's budget, and I think that the main goal here is to determine the extent to which these infrastructure projects will contribute to the growth of the real economy. As a whole, the work carried out in recent years has enabled Azerbaijan to reach its main goals related to the implementation of infrastructure projects. We are seeing this both in real life and in the reports of the Davos World Economic Forum. Because as an exporter of natural gas now, we have increased the level of gas supply within the country to 96 percent – of course, without Karabakh, I do not count that region. We used to import electricity, but now we are exporting it and expanding our export routes. Roads, railways, airports, drinking water projects, i.e. major projects have been implemented. Of course, social infrastructure projects must be implemented at the next stage. This time, we have provided additional funds especially for the construction of schools. Unfortunately, there are still schools that are in poor condition. We have identified them and, in addition to social infrastructure, let me say that again, infrastructure projects that serve the real sector should be looked at in particular," the head of state said.