Azerbaijani gov’t mulls 2017 state budget forecasts

The discussions, held Sept. 22, were chaired by Prime Minister Artur Rasizade.

During the meeting, Rasizade said the draft 2017 state budget was prepared taking into account the achievements and positive progress as a result of economic policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev over the recent years, including global financial and economic processes observed lately.

The draft 2017 state budget’s development took the budget’s social orientation as a basis, and special attention was paid to the continuous improvement of welfare of Azerbaijani population, ensuring the country’s national defense strength and national security, and development of non-oil sector.

Finance Minister Samir Sharifov and Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev also addressed the event.

The discussions held in an expanded format decided to present a set of documents, included in the budget package, to the Azerbaijani president.

In the corrected 2016 state budget, revenues are projected at 16.822 billion manats, and expenditures at 18.495 billion manats, while the deficit is projected at 1.673 billion manats.

Transfers by the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) to the 2016 state budget are projected at 7.615 billion manats.

Forecasts for 2016 were adjusted considering the oil price of $25 per barrel. The state budget for 2017 has been adjusted considering the oil price of $40 per barrel.