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Azerbaijan’ budget may get remaining SOFAZ funds by year-end

Oil&Gas Materials 19 December 2016 18:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 19

By Elchin Mehdiyev, Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) hopes to transfer its remaining assets in manats to the country’s state budget until end of 2016, Head of SOFAZ Shahmar Movsumov told Trend.

This year, transfers of SOFAZ to the state budget are provided in the amount of 7.615 billion manats.

“The fund continues to sell the currency at auctions in accordance with the schedule to fully transfer payments to Azerbaijan’s state budget,” said Movsumov. “However, as the budget doesn’t always need manats, there was something left in the fund.”

“In early 2016, the fund’s budget was set at the oil price of $25 per barrel,” said Movsumov. “However, during the year, the average oil price was above $42 per barrel. For this reason, revenues of SOFAZ will significantly exceed the forecast figures in late 2016.”

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

Based on SOFAZ’s regulations, its funds may be used for construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.

The main goals of the State Oil Fund are accumulation of resources and placement of the Fund’s assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect on the economy, prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations, and supporting current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.

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Follow the author on Twitter: @MaksimTsurkov

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