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Azerbaijan parliament holds plenary discussion on 2009 state draft budget - UPDATED

Azerbaijan parliament holds plenary discussion on 2009 state draft budget - <font color=red>UPDATED </font>

11 November 2008 09:52 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijanâ€™s Prime Minister Artur Rasizade and government officials also attended the sitting. .
Ziyafat Asgarov, deputy speaker of Milli Majlis, said the parliamentary commissions have already approved the bill and referred it to the plenary discussion.
Ziyad Samadzade, chairman of a parliamentary commission on economic policy, spoke about the features of the 2009 state draft budget bill, saying economic trends around the world have been taken into account in the draft.
He added that the Tax Code will be amended in 2009 to cut VAT and profit tax rates.
â€œThere is good potential to expand the taxpayer base and increase the budget revenue. Also, we see fundamental and qualitative changes in the customs system. We will also cut customs duties in next years to spur importation of raw materials and new technology,â€ he added.
Azerbaijanâ€™s Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov addressed the session too.
Under the budget outlook, revenues are projected to rise 16.1% to AZN 12.177 billion (27.9% of GDP) and expenditures are expected to increase 1.4% to AZN 12.355 billion (28.3%
Revenues of consolidated budget are projected to rise 29.9% to AZN 22.680 billion and expenditures 15.5% to AZN 14.758 billion.
In the consolidated budget, the expenditure of the State Social Protection Fund is projected to increase 26.3% to AZN 1 775.5 million and expenses of the State Oil Funds to increase 29.9% to AZN 5 676.3 million.
Azerbaijanâ€™s state budget was built on revenue estimates of oil priced at US$70 a barrel for 2008.
It is proposed to increase the subsistence minimum to AZN 84 per capita, AZN 92 for the economically active people, AZN 65 for pensioners and AZN 69 for children and in raise the subsistence needs level to AZN 60.