Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov. 13 / Trend A.Huseynbala /
Unifying the State Social Protection Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (SSPF) and State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOFAZ) would be ineffective, New Azerbaijan Party (NAP) Deputy Secretary, MP Mubariz Gurbanli said during discussions on the 2010 draft budget.
MP Ali Masimli proposed uniting the funds and justified his proposal by saying maintaining the SSPF apparatus requires too large a sum - 19 million manat. He suggested unifying the funds to reduce costs and in turn increase benefits and pensions for the general public.
Gurbanli called the proposal "ineffective," saying the cost of maintaining the SSPF is only one percent of the total fund. He added that such a merger would be inappropriate as SOFAZ holds a range of activities directed to bettering the living standards of the population.
The SSPF is the successor of the Soviet Social Insurance Fund. The SSPF was established in 1990 and transformed into a pension fund in 1991. The fund's budget for 2010 is a projected 1.77 billion manat.
SOFAZ was established in 1999. Today its assets total $14 billion.
On Nov. 13, the official exchange rate is 0.803 manat to $1.
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