Azernews.Az

By Narmina Mammadova

Thanks to economic reforms, incomes of the Azerbaijani population increased by 9.8 percent in January-October 2018, Azerbaijani Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said on television channel AZTV on December 4, Trend reports.

Sharifov pointed out that according to the budget of 2019, these reforms aimed at improving the living conditions of the population will be continued next year, like this year.

“Expenditures focused on social security will increase by 14 percent, which, of course will have a positive impact on the social situation of citizens of the country. For this sphere, 7.5 billiard manats were allocated,” the minister said.

He noted that the state budget expenditures for the health sector will increase by 42.4 percent, education - by 11.8 percent, social security - by 12.4 percent, cultural sector - by 9.8 percent.

Sharifov added, such social projects as the construction of schools, residential buildings, hospitals, etc. are planned to be financed at the expense of the state budget.

“Work will also be carried out to improve the living conditions of internally displaced persons, for whom 200 million manats will be allocated,” Sharifov said.

He stressed that the criterion of need and the cost of living for the coming year increased too.

Sharifov also noted that it is planned to increase the number of students studying at the expense of the state by 20 percent.

The minister said that in June of this year, important changes were made to the law “On the Budget System”. According to these changes, oil revenues will be used more disciplinedly.

“With high oil prices, we will limit our expenses and, in this connection, a new concept of “oil revenues that can be used” has been introduced. These changes will allow us to predict our incomes and expenses and make plans in accordance with these forecasts,” the minister noted.

Speaking about the support of agriculture, the minister noted that from next year this sphere will be exempt from taxation for the next five years.

Azerbaijan pays great attention to the development of agriculture. As a result of the measures taken, the production of agricultural products over the past 15 years has increased 1.7 times, and in January- September 2018 - by 4.3 percent. The share of agricultural products in Azerbaijan’s non-oil exports accounts for more than 47 percent.

Samir Sharifov also spoke about the subsidies issued to farmers saying that they will also be increased (for example, subsidies for the purchase of pesticides will increase by 5 times).

He went on to say that one of the important tasks facing the state is to ensure transparency in the salary system.

“For this purpose, the Tax Code has been amended and those, who work in the non-oil and private sectors for seven years and receiving up to 8,000 manats will be exempt from income tax. This will lead to the fact that entrepreneurs will no longer seek to hide their real incomes,” said the minister.

He also noted that one of the innovations is that the Azerbaijan`s Parliament adopted the law “On the budget for 2019” from the third reading and constructive and important discussions were held during the readings.

Azerbaijan is interested in increasing non-oil exports, Azerbaijani Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said.

The minister noted that the changes made to the budget this year actually reduced the expected tax revenues from the non-oil sector.

He recalled that the head of state gave instructions in this regard, the relevant structures, in particular the ministries of economy and agriculture, carry out targeted measures.

"In addition, the state applies a special mechanism - the incentive mechanism, that is, we encourage exports," Sharifov added.

Speaking about the brand "Made in Azerbaijan", the Minister of Finance said that the state is taking the necessary measures to participate in international exhibitions.

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