Azerbaijan discloses allocations from state budget for different purposes in 2021

By Azernews

In 2021, some 48.9 million manats ($28.78 million) were allocated from the Azerbaijani President’s Reserve Fund for the reconstruction of cities destroyed by the Armenian aggression, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said.

He made the remark at a meeting of Azerbaijan’s parliamentary committee on economic policy, industry, and entrepreneurship during the discussion of the bill on “Implementation of the 2021 state budget of Azerbaijan”.

Additionally, funds to the tune of 12.2 million manats ($7.18 million) were spent to undo the damage caused to the civilian population as a result of the Armenian aggression.

Furthermore, a total of 25 million manats ($14.7 million) were allocated for the development of master plans for the liberated cities.

In 2021, out of 2.2 billion manats ($1.3 billion) envisaged in the budget for the reconstruction and restoration of the liberated territories, 2.17 billion manats ($1.28 billion), or 99 percent of the total volume, was spent, he added.

Coronavirus funding

Later, Sharifov stated that Azerbaijan spent 807 million manats ($474.7 million) to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the fact that last year, 261 million manats ($153.5 million) were allocated to fight the pandemic, this amount was not enough, Sharifov added.

"An additional 266 million manats ($156.4 million) were allocated from the State Budget Reserve Fund and 280 million manats ($164.7 million) from the Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund to combat the pandemic,” the minister said.

“The allocated funds were mainly used to purchase vaccines and related medical equipment, special payments to doctors, volunteers, and other medical expenses," he elaborated.

Defense and national security

Further, he stated that the amount of state budget allocations for the defense and national security of Azerbaijan grew in 2021, which was carried out by an order of President Ilham Aliyev.

According to him, over 4.5 billion manats ($2.6 billion) were allocated for the defense and national security, which is 787 million manats ($462.9 million) or 21 percent more than in 2020.

Food security

Moreover, some 454.8 million manats ($267.5 million) were allocated to finance activities related to ensuring food security last year.

The report noted that taking into account additional costs associated with the involvement of lands of liberated territories in sowing circulation in accordance with ongoing reforms in the agrarian sector, 454.8 million manats ($267.5 million) was allocated for agricultural producers.

Funds in the amount of 467.5 million manats ($275 million) were totally allocated by the state to finance measures to ensure food security and 97.3 percent of them - were to agricultural producers.

This is 52.2 million manats ($30.7 million) or 13 percent more than in 2020.

Negative aspects

The minister noted that 2021 was a successful year for Azerbaijan from a socio-economic point of view. According to him, a large-scale vaccination was carried out against the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic, and the restrictions related to the pandemic as a result of targeted measures during this period were gradually lifted.

The minister also noted that the rise in oil prices helped the Azerbaijani economy to recover faster than expected.

Despite the fact that Azerbaijan's economy was steadily developing in 2021, there were also external negative developments in the country, such as rising inflation.

According to him, one of the causes of inflation was the global increase in food prices.

"In this regard, Azerbaijan has decided to implement various subsidy programs," Sharifov said.

Parliamentarians, representatives of the Finance Ministry, and the Chamber of Accounts attended the meeting.

Committee Chairman Tahir Mirkishili informed the meeting participants about a draft law.