SOFAZ's assets near $55B

The assets of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) amounted to $54,915,100,000 in the first half of 2023, Report informs, citing the Fund.

During the period of January-June 2023, the budget revenues of SOFAZ amounted to 11.7 billion manats ($46.88 billion), and the budget expenses amounted to 2.68 billion manats ($1.58 billion).

During the period of January-June 2023, the revenues of SOFAZ related to the implementation of oil and gas agreements are 8.62 billion manats ($5.1 billion), including 7.85 billion manats ($4.61 billion) from oil and gas profits, bonus payments amounted to 765.3 million manats ($450.4 million), transit revenues amounted to 0.8 million manats ($470,750), acre account payments amounted 3.6 million manats ($2.12 million).

The revenues from managing SOFAZ’s assets for January-June 2023 amounted to 3.08 billion manats ($1.81 billion).

The extra-budgetary revenues of SOFAZ amounted to 977.6 million manats ($575.26 million) due to the difference caused by the variation in exchange rates.

During the reporting period, 2.66 billion manats ($1.57 billion) have been transferred to the state budget within the 2023 SOFAZ budget implementation framework. 5.2 million manats ($3.06 million) have been directed to financing the "2019-2023 State Program on increasing the international competitiveness of the higher education system of Azerbaijan" and 3.6 million manats ($2.12 million) have been directed to financing “State Program for the Education of Youth at Prestigious Universities of Foreign Countries for 2022-2026”.

From January-June 2023, the expenses related to the management of SOFAZ amounted to 11 million manats ($6.47 million).

“The increase in assets during the first half of 2023 can be attributed to the surplus of budget revenues over expenses, which includes the revenues generated from fund management. The stock sub-portfolio demonstrated the highest profitability during this period. Although there has been an economic recovery since the beginning of the year, the continuation of a strict monetary policy has raised the risk of an economic slowdown. Additionally, the fact that inflation remains above the target rates set by leading central banks suggests the possibility of future interest rate hikes,” SOFAZ said.