BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. Azerbaijan’s net sovereign asset position is forecast to increase by 14.3 percentage points to 77.6 percent in 2022-2024, Trend reports, citing the data from Fitch Ratings.
According to Fitch, this is the highest forecast in the rating peer group.
Azerbaijan’s sovereign foreign currency assets rose to $52.6 billion at the end of June from $52.1 billion at the end of 2021, the report said.
Meanwhile, assets of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) accounted for 86 percent of the total assets, where the increase in oil and gas revenues of the first half of 2022 more than offset investment losses of $2 billion, Fitch noted.
The outlook on Azerbaijan's Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) has been revised to ‘Positive’ from ‘Stable’, and affirmed at 'BB+'.
“The rating is supported by Azerbaijan's very strong external balance sheet, the lowest public debt in the peer group, and financing flexibility from large sovereign wealth fund assets,” Fitch said.
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