BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 11. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects Azerbaijan to revise its budget forecast mid-year, Trend reports.
According to the bank, fiscal policy will remain moderately expansionary as the budget is heavily dependent on oil revenues.
"The state budget deficit is expected to be at two percent of GDP in 2024, rising to 2.3 percent in 2025, owing to increasing spending on regional development. Earnings are predicted to remain strong, accounting for 27.5 percent of GDP in 2024 and increasing to 28.2 percent in 2025, owing to improved tax administration initiatives aimed at non-oil industry earnings. Expenditures are expected to reach 29.5 percent of GDP in 2024 and 30.5 percent in 2025, with an emphasis on increasing social and capital spending.
The sovereign wealth fund will continue to play a vital role in fiscal financing, constituting nearly 49 percent of revenues in both years to support the regional development strategy adequately. Excluding transfers from the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), the deficit is expected to be 12 percent of GDP throughout the projection period. The 29th UN Climate Conference could prompt a mid-year budget adjustment, potentially increasing expenditures in the latter half of 2024," the bank said.
According to the "On the State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2024" draft law, the approved revenues for the state budget of Azerbaijan in 2024 amount to 34.173 billion manat, or $20.1 billion, while expenditures are set at 36.763 billion manat, or $21.6 billion. This includes centralized revenues totaling nearly 33.4 billion manat or $19.6 billion, local revenues amounting to 773.105 million manat or $456.76 million, centralized expenditures of 35.98 billion manat or $21.16 billion, and local expenditures of 782.453 million manat or $460.27 million.
This November, Azerbaijan will host COP29. This decision was made at the COP28 plenary meeting held in Dubai on December 11 last year. Baku will become the center of the world and will receive about 70–80,000 foreign guests.
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed in June 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro to prevent harmful human interference with the climate system. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the highest legislative body in charge of ensuring that the Framework Convention on Climate Change is implemented. The Convention has 198 signatory countries. Unless the parties agree differently, the COP takes place once a year. The inaugural COP was held in March 1995 in Berlin, Germany, and the secretariat is based in Bonn.
