Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 17 / Trend A. Akhundov /
About 16.5 percent more money was spent on social expenditures from the Azerbaijani state budget in 2011 than the previous year, Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev said on Tuesday.
"The average monthly wage increased by 8.3 percent to 357 manat over the first 11 months of last year," he said. "In 2011, the state-funded salary of people working in education, health, culture, sports, science and other areas increased by an average of 10 percent."
He said employment also increased. About 94,000 new jobs were created. The unemployment rate reduced to 5.4 percent.
The number of people living in poverty has decreased from 44.7 to 7.6 percent since 2003 The figure increased from 35.8 manat in 2003 to 106.9 manat in 2011, Mustafayev said.
The official exchange rate is 0,7864 AZN/USD.