BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 25. Azerbaijan has invested $25 billion in Karabakh and East Zangezur over the past six years, Azerbaijani Finance Minister Sahil Babayev said on Friday at the second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum in Baku, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
“We are building infrastructure, constructing housing and seeking to ensure the return of the Azerbaijani population, former internally displaced persons, to their native lands and a decent life there,” the minister said.
According to him, 16 billion manat ($9.4 billion) has been allocated to other regions of the country and projects aimed at upgrading infrastructure.
“Budget expenditures will be directed toward state programs focused on economic diversification. We are actively working with relevant organizations, ministries and agencies to further develop tourism, agriculture, industry, digitalization and, of course, provide overall support for economic activity,” he said.
According to Babayev, about $3 billion will be allocated to these areas in the coming years.
He also noted that Azerbaijan has stable macroeconomic and macro-fiscal indicators, while the country's economic growth has remained stable in recent years.
“From 2021 through 2025, Azerbaijan's nominal GDP growth exceeded 6%. Around 20–25 years ago, most of Azerbaijan's GDP was generated by the oil and gas sector, whereas today the non-oil economy accounts for more than 70% of GDP. This share will continue to grow, while Azerbaijan's dependence on oil revenues will decrease,” he said.
Babayev said Azerbaijan had managed to reduce transfers from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan to the state budget by about 10% over the past two years.
“Over the next three years, we plan to reduce them by another 20%, and by the end of 2030, we aim to reach a level where only 30% of Azerbaijan's state budget revenues will depend on oil revenues, while 70% will come from the non-oil sector of the economy,” the minister said.
He also said Azerbaijan's state budget surplus had exceeded 3% of GDP over the past five years.
According to Babayev, Azerbaijan is also working to reduce the non-oil primary deficit of the state budget. The indicator has been reduced from 22–23% to a projected 17% by the end of 2026.
