BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 14. Attracting additional funds into the economy of Azerbaijan is very important in the strategy of socio-economic development of the country, Head of the department at the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication of Azerbaijan Nijat Hajizade told Trend.
According to him, the government of Azerbaijan is aimed at reducing dependence of forming the state budget at the expense of funds raised from the sale of energy resources, and diversification in all branches of entrepreneurship is a necessary condition for the formation of a competitive economy.
"In order to increase the competitiveness of non-oil products, it's necessary to form an economy independent from the oil and gas sector. Oil and gas sector is an important source of monetary and fiscal management of Azerbaijan. At the same time, a strategy for socio-economic development for 2022-2026 has been prepared, which provides a decrease in the share of gas and oil sector. In addition, the Strategic Roadmaps of the National Economy and the Main Sectors of the Economy for 2016-2022 provided for a reduction in transfers from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) to the state budget," Hajizade said.
"The essence of the "National priorities - 2026" document is to increase shares of income at the expense of non-oil sector. Strengthening global recessionary trends, rising inflation rates and a number of other factors have a significant impact on future forecasts of real economic growth. The report of the Ministry of Finance emphasizes that the share of the oil sector in Azerbaijan's GDP will be 30.8 percent in 2023, and an additional inflow of finance is expected from the non-oil sector," he added.
Hajizade informed that due to the reforms implemented in the country, an increase in the state budget is already seen at the expense of revenues from the non-oil sector.
"The state budget received more than 6.2 billion manat or $3.64 billion through the Tax Service from January through September 2022 (growth by 32.2 percent or 1.51 billion manat ($888.2 million). In total, the budget received 10.5 billion manat of taxes ($6.1 billion) from January through September 2022, which is 64.5 percent more than in the same period the previous year. The share of non-oil sector in total tax revenue amounts to 59 percent," he said.
Hajizade noted that with the growth of non-oil sector in the economy, its share in the state budget also increased.
"The main factors in the growth of tax revenues in the state budget at the expense of non-oil sector in the state budget are the fight against the shadow economy and creation of added value of manufactured products.The noticeable increase in consumer price indices and producer prices since 2021 also affected the economy of Azerbaijan," he said.
"The prices for raw materials and products in world markets led from January through September 2022, the value added of manufacturing products increased by 24.2 percent compared to the same period the previous year. The price indices for consumer goods and paid services provided to the population from January through September 2022 increased by 13.4 percent," Hazijade stated.