Rise of Azerbaijan state budget revenues for 2013
By Aynur Jafarova
Azerbaijan's state budget revenues rose by 101.8 percent as of
2013, the country's Deputy Finance Minister Azer Bayramov said on
May 12.
He made the remarks during a meeting of the Parliamentary
Commission on Economic Policy.
The meeting was held to discuss the draft law 'On the execution
of the state budget for 2013'.
The deputy minister noted the revenues of the state budget
increased by 2.215 billion manats or 12.8 percent in 2013 compared
to 2012 to 19.496 billion manats.
"The budget expenditures reached to 96.4 percent of the forecast
volume and standing at 9.143 billion manats, or 9.9 percent (1.727
billion manats) more compared to 2012," Bayramov stressed.
In her remarks, Azerbaijan's Deputy Economy and Industry Minister
Sevinj Hasanova noted the country's GDP increased by 5.8 percent
and stood at 57.7 billion manats in 2013.
The GDP per capita increased by 4.4 percent and totaled over 6,207
manats (around $7,912) in the same year.
Hasanova went on to say that Azerbaijan's currency reserves exceed
the foreign pubic debt by 9 percent and this amount is sufficient
to cover the import costs for three or four years.
"The country's macroeconomic indicators show the stability of the
economic system and give grounds to say that this sustainability
will be ensured in the coming years as well. The inflations rate,
which stood at 2.4 percent in 2013, also confirms this," she
added.
The official exchange rate on May 12 was 0.7843 AZN/USD.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev approved the state budget for 2014 on December 19.
Revenues and expenses for 2014 are projected to be 18.384 billion manats and 20.063 billion mantas, respectively.
In 2014, the revenues are expected to be 775 million manats lower than the figures in 2013, and exceed the actual figures of 2012 by 1.103 billion manats.
In his remarks Azerbaijani MP Vahid Ahmedov said Azerbaijan should adopt a law 'On state financial control' to eliminate gaps and facts of irrational use of budget funds.
He noted the researches confirm the existence of serious irregularities in the expenditure of budget funds.
"The existence of a law will ensure to control the expenditures of the funds of the state budget as part of financing large-scale projects," Ahmedov said.
The MP said it is necessary to speed up funding from the state budget, which is very important for the timely implementation of projects.