Azerbaijan, Baku, August 26 / Trend U. Ismayilova /
210 million manat has been allocated for social assistance from the Azerbaijani state budget for 2009, Director of the Poverty and Social Assistance Department of the ministry, Natiq Qasimov, said in an interview published in official press on August 26.
"This figure is the highest among the CIS countries," Qasimov said.
He said that 39 million manat had been allocated for social assistance from the state budget in 2006, 78 million manat in 2007 and 127.5 million manat in 2008.
Social assistance has been provided in Azerbaijan since July 1, 2006. As of July 1, 2009, 179,500 families (817,350 people) in Azerbaijan received social assistance. The average monthly amount for social assistance in Azerbaijan is 98.19 manat per family and 21.56 manat per person. 77.8 percent have received this assistance for the first time.
On August 26, the official exchange rate is 0.804 manat to $1.