BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19. During today's plenary session of the Azerbaijani Parliament, Finance Minister Sahil Babayev announced that, as part of the Great Return program, 8.4 percent of next year’s budget expenditures, totaling 3.5 billion manat (approximately $2 billion), will be earmarked for the reconstruction of the territories reclaimed from occupation, Trend reports.
Speaking while discussing the draft law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026,” Babayev noted that since the end of 2020, state budget resources have been mobilized annually for reconstruction and development activities, with 17.6 billion manat ($10.3 billion) already spent by the beginning of this year. By the end of the year, these expenditures are expected to reach 22 billion manat ($12.9 billion). The draft budget for 2026 and the medium-term expenditure framework for the following three years primarily aim to ensure financial support for this direction.
Babayev stressed that the first State Program on the Great Return stands among the top spending priorities of the 2026 state budget.
“This is a supreme task set before us by President Ilham Aliyev, and as budget capacities grow, we must first accelerate construction work in the liberated territories and ensure that people return to their native lands as quickly as possible,” he said.
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