SOFAZ's sales of foreign currency hit $560.3 million in October
By Ayya Lmahamad
State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan sold funds in the amount of $560.3 million at foreign currency auctions in October 2020, the fund’s press service has reported.
According to the statement, there was a decrease in the volume of foreign currency sales by 7.6 percent compared to September. It should be noted that SOFAZ sold funds in the amount of $606.4 million at foreign currency auctions in September 2020.
Moreover, the fund sold funds in the amount of around $6.1 billion at foreign currency auctions during the period of January-October 2020.
SOFAZ is currently the main source of currency sale at currency auctions.
Revenues of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan from oil and gas agreements amounted to AZN 6.2 billion ($3.6bn) in 2020. During the first nine months of 2020, the volume of transfers from SOFAZ to the state budget amounted to AZN 8.8 billion ($5.1bn).
It should be noted that during the period of 2003-2019, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan transferred $99.7 billion to the state budget.
Additionally, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan has increased the gold reserve by 0.6 tons since the beginning of 2020. As of September 30, the total volume of gold in the investment portfolio of the Fund was 101.8 tons. Moreover, at the beginning of the 2020, the volume of gold in the investment portfolio of the Fund was 101.2 tons.
Earlier it was reported that revenues of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan amounted to AZN 6.5 million ($3.8M), while budget expenditures to AZN 9 million ($5.2M) during the first nine months of 2020.
SOFAZ was established in December 1999 by the Presidential Decree and is a sovereign wealth fund of Azerbaijan, which accumulates and preserves the nation's oil and gas revenues for future generations. The fundamental mission of SOFAZ is to ensure intergenerational equality with regard to the country's oil wealth and to accumulate and safeguard the oil revenues for generations to come.
The Fund accumulates income from the sale of oil contracts, and in 2003 it started to make transfers to the state budget of Azerbaijan. As for now, SOFAZ contribution to the country’s GDP is over 80 percent.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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