Minister: Azerbaijan to increase education, healthcare spending in 2027

In 2027, Azerbaijan plans to increase education and healthcare spending to 3.6% and 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), respectively, Finance Minister Sahil Babayev said during a discussion of the 2027 budget package at today"s meeting of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis (Parliament) Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship, Report informs.

Babayev noted that the ratios of education and healthcare spending to GDP are in line with benchmark indicators established for upper-middle-income countries worldwide. The minister noted that the government would continue pursuing a consistent policy in this direction.

The minister also pointed out that next year's allocations to the agricultural sector would account for 15.8% of agricultural GDP. This figure is higher than the regional average and the average for CIS countries, where the indicator stands at 13.2%.

According to him, another notable feature of next year's state budget is the further reduction of the regions' dependence on central budget funding.

"Districts are no longer dependent on subsidies. Meanwhile, the amount of subsidies allocated to Nakhchivan will decrease by 13.6 million manats ($8 million), or 6.4%, compared to the current year. This is due to an increase in the autonomous republic's local revenues. As a result, a larger share of Nakhchivan's budget will be financed through local revenues," he said.