Stable resources and a low level of state debt of Azerbaijan in 2013 have significantly softened the risks of oil price volatility and helped the country to maintain a strong foreign position, reads the report about Azerbaijan’s progress within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy released by the European Union yesterday.
Meanwhile, deficit of the current non-oil operations in the payment balance of the country remained high – 17.4% of GDP, which has been caused by import of non-oil products for the state purposes and direct foreign investments in the gas industry, reads the report.
“Azerbaijan keeps on funding a major part of the state expenses at the expense of hydrocarbons sale. In 2013 58.43% of the budget revenues have been formed at the expense of transfers from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ). This has helped to execute the budget with the proficit of 0.47% of GDP. If we exclude transfers from SOFAZ, the budget had a deficit of 19.1% of GDP,” reads the report.
In December 2013 the government increased retail prices for various types of fuel by 25-33%, reads the report.
* If one excludes transfers from the SOFAZ worth 11.35 billion AZN ($14.5 billion), the state budget would have a deficit of 10,968 billion AZN or 56.3%. During 2013 the state budget revenues (including SOFAZ’s transfers) totaled 19,494 billion AZN, while expenses – 19,112 billion AZN.
