Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 6
By Sara Israfilbayova – Trend:
The State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOFAZ) placed funds in Wells Fargo bank in the amount of 4.4 million manats in 2018, Trend reports with reference to SOFAZ’s financial statements for 2018, confirmed by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) international audit company.
According to the report, SOFAZ closed investment deposits in the Turkish banks, namely T.C. Ziraat Bankasi, Akbank T.A.S., Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Istanbul, and Turkiye Garanti Bankasi. This is understandable, as the Turkish lira lost its value against hard currencies over the past year. The process continues and its rate remains rather volatile.
As of December 31, 2017, deposits in T.C. Ziraat Bankasi amounted to 472.2 million manats, Akbank T.A.S. - 292.6 million manats, Turkiye Is Bankasi A.S. Istanbul - 687.9 million manats, Turkiye Garanti Bankasi - 681.8 million manats.
At the same time, SOFAZ’s deposit in the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) at the end of 2018 amounted to 112,000 manats (51,000 in 2017), while in the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) - to 820,000 manats (11,300 manats in 2017)
SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.
Based on SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.
The main goals of the State Oil Fund include accumulation of resources and placement of assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect to the economy, prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.
(1 USD = 1.7 AZN on Aug. 6)
-----
Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS