Finance Minister: “SGC does not need $750M loan guaranteed by MIGA”

“All commitments in the field of public debt are being fulfilled, strategy to manage approved mid- and long-term public debt is being followed”, Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said at the meeting under President Ilham Aliyev on socio-economic field.

"We managed to reduce the debt and are keeping current level of the debt. At the same time, state guarantee is issued to some significant projects. One of such projects is the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC). It’s pleasing that there is no much need for financing considered for this project. However, negotiations had been conducted with foreign financial organizations and they were ready to allocate the funds. But, as a first package, we refused borrowing in $2 billion because there was no need for it. The SGC and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) signed a loan agreement worth $750 million. But we don’t need that loan. Because our company has a financial flow on the account of savings on and launch of that project," he said.

"All conditions have been created for fulfillment of commitments to the state budget by the end of the year. Our state bodies exceed the forecast on transfer to the state budget," he added.