Finance minister: Setting budget price of oil at $50 - protective approach

Setting the price of one barrel of oil at $50 in the state budget of Azerbaijan for next year is a very protective approach, Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said at the joint session of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) Committees for Law policy and State-Building, Defense, Security and Fight against Corruption, Human Rights, International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations, Report informs.

“This approach protects us from fluctuations in global oil markets. Our policy is to reduce dependence on oil at a consistent pace. We have set the oil price, which is above $90 in the world market, at $50. With this approach, we insure ourselves against the negative effects of oil price fluctuations. I believe that we will continue this policy in the coming years. We have to be quite careful in this matter.”