Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 30 /Trend, A.Akhundov/
The volume of transfers from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) to the state budget in 2012 will not differ greatly from the indicators of this year, Deputy Finance Minister Azer Bayramov told Trend on Friday.
"In 2012, transfers from the Oil Fund is expected approximately at the level of 2011 [approved at 9.2 billion manat]," said Bayramov.
In general, he said, a significant increase in the budget next year compared with 2011 is not expected.
The revenue part of the 2012 state budget is projected at 16.436.4 billion manat (with an increase of 5.67 percent as compared with the forecast for 2011), expenses - 16.984.4 billion manat (an increase of 6.5 percent).
According to him, the forecast on oil revenues for 2012 will be lower than actual income for 2011.
SOFAZ has received $60 billion from 2001 to 2011.
As of Jan. 1, SOFAZ assets amounted to $22.8 billion. Movsumov said that the current assets hit $32 billion.
The Fund's income this year is expected to hit 12.796.2 billion manat.
Based on SOFAZ's regulations, the funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems. In 2001-2009 special attention was drawn to the development of the oil and infrastructure sectors, as well as the non-oil sector of the country. At the moment, a number of important projects in irrigation and transportation are financed at the expense of the funds.
The main purposes of the fund are: accumulation of funds and placement of the fund's assets abroad to minimize the negative impact on the economy, preventing a "Dutch syndrome" to ensure savings for future generations and to maintain the current socio-economic standard in the country.
Official exchange rate on Sept. 30 is 0.7869 AZN/USD.