BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Eldar Janashvili - Trend:
As many as 533.26 million manat ($313.6 million) has been allocated from Azerbaijan’s state budget to help people who are affected by COVID-19 pandemic, Trend reports referring to Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance.
“The Action Plan approved by the Cabinet of Ministers provides for financing a number of areas in support of entrepreneurship and continued economic growth. In particular, 69.12 million manat [$40.6 million] was allocated from the state budget for the payment of wages to employees in then areas affected by the pandemic, and 55.64 million manat [$32.7 million] was allocated to provide financial support to microentrepreneurs,” the ministry said.
In addition, in order to provide state guarantees for bank loans to business entities and subsidize credit interests, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund has allocated 35 million manat ($20.5 million). In total, these areas received funds in the amount of 159.76 million manat ($93.9 million).
Furthermore, transfer of the funds in the amount of 229 million manat ($134.7 million) to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population for provision of with a lump sum payment of 190 manat ($111.7) during two months to 600,000 people registered in the State Employment Service as unemployed has been completed.
"In addition, the transfer of funds worth 15 million manat [$8.8 million] for provision of the unemployed with temporary employment has also been completed. Thus, the Ministry of Finance transferred 244 million manat [$143.5million] from budget funds to the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population,” noted the ministry.
“As stipulated in the Action Plan, financial support is also provided for the sphere of passenger transportation, which is vital for the economy. As known, due to the suspension of flights due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a significant decrease in airline revenues, the Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) CJSC, like all airlines in the world, suffered heavy losses. Within the framework of measures of the state support, 86.9 million manat [$51.1 million] was transferred to AZAL. Financial support allocated from the state budget is primarily aimed at paying salaries and equivalent payments to employees working in AZAL and in its subordinate organizations, payables to external and internal institutions, utilities and other minimum operating expenses,” said the report.
As part of support measures, 2.6 million manat ($1.5 million) was transferred from the state budget to the Baku Metro CJSC, the ministry noted.
“At the expense of the funds envisaged in the Action Plan, the Ministry of Economy provided 1.6 million manat [$941,176] for the payment of labor to 4,134 employees of 323 business entities operating in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic as well as 2.3 million manat [$1.3 million] for providing financial assistance to 6,282 microentrepreneurs. To provide state support to persons registered as unemployed in the autonomous republic, 3.61 million manat [$2.1 million] has been allocated. As many as 1.24 million manat [$729,411] has been allocated to the Cabinet of Ministers of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for wage compensation and other operating expenses of the Nakhchivan International Airport, as well as for financial assistance to seven business entities operating in the field of intercity and intra-city transportation,” said the ministry.
Financing of operations in all areas that suffered from COVID-19 are being carried out by the treasury departments on a daily basis in accordance with the Action Plan.
(1 USD = 1.7 manat on May 22)
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