Finance

Finance

Samir Sharifov: Azerbaijan’s 2009 state budget will not be performed as planned

21 October 2009 14:11 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Nijat Mustafayev - APA-ECONOMICS. Azerbaijan’s state budget for 2009 will not be executed as expected, said Finance Minister Samir Sharifov.

Nevertheless, the financing of main social programs and investment projects are being financed. , he added.

According to him, several projects have been deferred to 2010.

"This is above all due to the fact that the average price of oil was $51 against the budget projected $70. This affected budget revenue. Another negative factor was output and income tax from the Azerbaijan International Operating Company. Technical problems at Azeri Field had some influence on budget revenue too,â€ he added.

Samir Sharifov also noted that Azerbaijanâ€™s trade turnover was adversely affected by the global financial crisis.

"However, there have been no problems with the payment of salaries, pensions and allowances,â€ he noted.

According to him, Azerbaijan’s GDP growth rate was 6.1% during January-September 2009 while other countries saw a 10-14% decline.

â€œAzerbaijan was not affected by the implications of the crisis which led to GDP drop and currency devaluation in other CIS countries and the region,â€ he added.