In Azerbaijan, budget forecasts can be revised, Finance Minister says

The forecasts of this year's state budget can be revised in the middle of the year because the results of the last period are not bad. Azernews reports that this was stated by Azerbaijan's Finance Minister, Samir Sharifov.

Sharifov said these thoughts to journalists when commenting on the revision of the 2024 budget due to the change in the price of oil in the world markets compared to the price in the budget forecasts.
"Nothing can be excluded; as a rule, we look at the results of the last period, i.e., four months, and find that the growth of the gross domestic product in the non-oil sector is not bad but rather high. The oil sector, as well as additional tax and customs revenues, are available," the minister said.

According to him, the price of oil in the market is higher than included in the budget forecasts.

"As you know, this year in the state budget of Azerbaijan, one barrel of oil is set at the level of 60 dollars. Accordingly, additional income from the oil sector will be taken into account; we have income from oil as well as gas," S. Sharifov stressed.

The minister noted that the prices in the international gas markets are very volatile, so recently the price of gas has started to fall.

"Considering all that has been said, certain calculations are being made today. Therefore, as always, when there is additional income and when there is an opportunity to use it for projects without harming macroeconomic stability, a decision will be made at an appropriate level without hindering medium-term macro-fiscal stability," said the minister.

It should be noted that in January–March of this year, the revenues of the state budget of Azerbaijan amounted to 9 billion 234.3 million manats, and the expenses amounted to 8 billion 412.6 million manats. These are 11.4% and 28.1% more than the same period last year, respectively.

As a result, a surplus of 821.7 million manats was created in the budget. This is 52.3%, or 2.1 times less than a year ago.