Investments in Azerbaijan's economy (January 2012)

About 459.4 million manat was invested from all financial sources to develop the economic and social spheres in Azerbaijan in Jan. 2012, or 4.8 percent more than in Jan. 2011.

We will observe the steady growth in investments made in capital construction till May this year due to the growth of construction, rehabilitation and reconstruction operations to prepare for the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 in Baku.

The main sources of investments in Jan. 2012 are: funds of enterprises and organizations - 278.4 million manat (increasing by 9.4 percent compared to Jan. 2011); budgetary funds - 78.9 million manat (decreasing by 31.4 percent), off-budgetary funds - 22.0 million manat (increasing by 2.9 times), bank loans - 60.4 million manat (increasing by 27.3 percent), funds of population - 19.7 million manat (increasing by 41.7 percent).

The increase in investments in Jan. 2012 is connected with the increased investment activity of all sources of funding, except the off-budget funds. The share in the total amount of investments hits 17.2 percent.

This is stipulated by the initial stage of allocating the budget funds.

According to the data provided by the State Statistics Committee, private enterprises and organizations invested 245.8 million manat (53.5 percent of total investments) in main capital and public enterprises and organizations - 213.6 million manat (46.5 percent).

The dominance of the private investments this month removed a reverse trend by late 2011. Public investments prevailed over private ones. No investments were made in Jan. from the state budget 2012. The major share of public investment is directed to implement major transport and infrastructure projects.

About 49.9 percent (229.1 million manat) of the funds invested in the capital were directed to develop non-oil sector, 50.1 percent (230.3 million manat) - oil sector. In January direct investments in the oil sector exceeded the investments made in other sectors for the first 2 years.

According to the State Statistics Committee, in January about 230.3 million manat were invested in the oil sector, or 13.8 percent more than in the same period of 2011 and 229.1 million manat (-2.9 percent) in non-oil sector.

According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes, about 110 new enterprises were established in non-oil sector in 2011. In 2012, about 200 enterprises are under construction through various financial funds. This means that Azerbaijan will work to reduce dependence on oil and increase investments in non-oil sector. The country is still dependent on the oil sector, but today the tax revenues from non-oil sector significantly increased.

The total investments in the industry totaled 242.2 million manat with an increase of 3.9 percent. About 9.2 mln manat was invested in the processing industry (decreased by 68.7 percent). During the reported period, the investments in the extractive sector hit 227.9 million manat, which is 13.2 percent more than investments in Jan. 2011. Totally, 52.7 percent of investments fell to the industrial sector.

The investments made in construction work made up 211.3 million manat (46.0 percent of total investments in the construction sector). The investments made in the construction of production facilities totaled 259.4 million manat, while non-production facilities totaled 200.0 million manat.

Of the total volume of investments, 47.3 percent accounted for domestic investments. Most (70.7 percent) domestic investments fall to the state-owned enterprises and organizations and only 29.3 percent - private enterprises.

Investment indices for Jan. 2012:

(Source: State Statistics Committee and calculations by Trend)

The total amount of foreign investments in Azerbaijan's economy hit 242.5 million manat in Jan. 2012, or 47.6 percent more compared to the same of period of last year.

The increased amount of foreign investments into the country once again proves that foreign investors are interested in Azerbaijan's economy. Their investments are protected at the appropriate level.

Another reason that foreign investments exceeded domestic investments is connected with the fact that the state investment program for 2012 was not approved in January.

In Jan. 2012, 84.2 percent (211.6 million manat) of investments made in the Azerbaijani economy by foreign countries and the international organizations accounted for investors from Great Britain, the U.S., Japan, Norway, Turkey.

Great Britain continues to keep leading positions on the amount of investments in Azerbaijan. The country's share in the total amount of the foreign investments hit 41.1 percent. British investments hit 99.7 million manat.

The biggest amount of investments was allocated by WB among the international financial institutions to the amount of 16.6 million manat with a specific weight of 6.8 percent. WB projects cover different spheres of the country's economic life.