Azerbaijan could see budget deficit in 2016
By Aynur Karimova
The state budget of Azerbaijan for 2016 will likely be fulfilled with a deficit of 2-2.5 percent from GDP, member of the Parliament Rufat Guliyev told Trend.
"This level does not pose any threat to the economy of the country. The budgets of several countries are fulfilled with a deficit of 20-30 percent from GDP. By the way, one should take into account that the increase of oil revenues as a result of increase of prices for ‘black gold’ and the growth of revenues from the non-oil exports may pave the way for reducing the budget deficit," he said.
The MP also noted that the price of oil was set at $50 per barrel when forecasting the budget indices for 2016, and according to the forecasts of most international financial institutions, the average oil price will fluctuate around $50-$55 a barrel in the next year.
"The state budget was developed taking into account the processes that are underway in the world and the Azerbaijani economy, and the main factor that will be taken into account in the budget, will be the development of the non-oil sector, in particular the non-oil exports," he added.
Guliyev believes that much attention will be paid to the development of industrial parks, which are considered the engines of future economic growth in the non-oil sector.
"In recent years, the growth rate of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector outstrips the pace of growth of both the oil sector and the economy of the country as a whole. Also, great attention in the state budget will be paid to the issues of social security of the population and strengthening the country's defense potential," he said.
On September 1, Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers discussed a budget package for 2016 under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Artur Rasizade. Following discussions, it was decided to submit the budget package to the Azerbaijani president.
Earlier, a source in the government told Trend that the deficit of Azerbaijan’s 2015-state budget amounted to 595.7 million manats ($568.1 million) in the first seven months of 2015, while there was a budget surplus of 774 million manats ($738.1 million) in the same period of last year.
The state budget is in deficit for the fifth month in a row.
During the first seven months of 2015, state revenues amounted to 9.38 billion manats ($8.94 billion), which is 15.4 percent less than the same period of 2014.
Budget expenditures amounted to 9.97 billion manats ($9.5 billion), decreasing by 3.3 percent from the last year's indices.
Meanwhile, despite the economic processes taking place in the world, the fluctuation of the oil prices in the world in particular, Azerbaijan's State Statistics Committee reported a deflation in the country.
The committee reported that prices for consumer goods and tariffs for services decreased by 0.1 percent in August 2015 compared to July.
The official exchange rate for September 4 was 1 USD/1.0486 AZN.
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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova
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