BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The volume of refunds from Azerbaijan's state budget in the first half of the current year has been announced.
This information was published on the website of the country's Finance Ministry.
According to the information, a total of 154.6 million manat ($90.9 million) was refunded from the state budget to individuals and legal entities in the reporting period.
The information noted that the refunded funds include value-added tax (VAT) paid by individuals when purchasing goods in the retail trade and public catering sectors, paying for services in the cultural sector (theaters, cinemas, museums, concerts), medical services, as well as hotel services in the liberated territories.
"In addition, VAT refunds were provided to foreign citizens for purchases of domestically produced goods in the country's territory that were not intended for commercial purposes. Furthermore, part of the VAT paid through cashless purchases of residential and non-residential premises from persons engaged in construction activities, as well as overpaid amounts of other taxes, state duties, interest, and financial sanctions, were refunded," the ministry said.
Earlier, Finance Minister Sahil Babayev said during a parliamentary discussion of the draft law on the execution of the state budget in 2025 that, maintaining fiscal discipline, the indicators of the budget rule were fulfilled within the established upper limits in Azerbaijan last year.
According to the minister, the ratio of the consolidated budget's non-oil base deficit to non-oil gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 18.6% in 2025, 3.5 percentage points below the target level of 22%. Babayev noted the share of non-oil revenues in the consolidated budget increased to 55.2%, up 2.8 percentage points from the previous year.
Noting maintenance of positive trends in public debt management, the minister said that as of June 1, 2026, Azerbaijan's public debt stood at 24.1 billion manat ($14.2 billion), equivalent to 18.4% of GDP.
"This indicator decreased by 11.9% from the beginning of the year. The average maturity of government bonds increased to 3.8 years, while the share of seven-year and 10-year bonds in the debt portfolio rose, indicating an improvement in the portfolio's structure," he said.
The minister also highlighted growth in the assets of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ). As of Jan. 1, 2026, the fund's assets had increased by $13.5 billion to reach $73.5 billion, providing a strong long-term financial buffer to support macroeconomic stability and development.
