Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 24/ Trend, E. Ismayilov/
As of Oct. 1, 2013, around 67.17 million manat has been allocated by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) since 2008 within the State Programme on Education of Azerbaijani Youth Abroad for 2007-2015, SOFAZ reported today.
According to the report, around 59.4 per cent of the total volume of funds allocated by SOFAZ for youth education in the indicated period from 2008 to April 1, 2013, was spent on providing students with accommodation in hostels and other places, 34.1 per cent on tuition fees, 3.8 per cent on travel expenses, 1.3 per cent on health insurance, 1.2 per cent on other expenses and 0.3 per cent on visas and registration.
In particular, around 12.38 million manat was allocated by SOFAZ in January-September for education of Azerbaijani youth abroad.
Around 7.1 million manat of the total volume of allocated funds was spent on student accommodation, around 4.42 million manat on tuition fees, 582,360 manat on travel expenses, 175,940 manat on health insurance, 20,670 manat on visas and registration and 81,630 manat on other expenses.
The State Oil Fund was established in 1999 and its assets at that time amounted to $271 million.
The main goals of the State Oil Fund include: accumulation of resources and placement of the Fund's assets abroad in order to minimise the negative affect on the economy, the prevention of 'Dutch disease' to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.
The assets of the State Oil Fund for October 1, 2013 increased by 4.9 per cent and amounted to $35.809 billion compared to $34.129 billion in early 2013.
The official exchange rate is 0,7844 AZN/USD on Oct. 24.