How can regions go self-financing?

Baku/29.10.21/Turan: According to the bill "On the state budget for 2022," next year, funds from the state budget will be allocated only to 14 regions, and the remaining 52 districts and cities will operate on a self-supporting basis. This was stated by the people's deputy, economist Vugar Bayramov.

Half of the 14 regions that will receive funds from the budget next year are located in Karabakh and East Zangezur. The rest are in other regions of the country. Of the cities and regions of the country liberated from the occupation, only Shusha, Fizuli and Gubadli will be able to “feed themselves”. There are no plans to allocate funds from centralized spending to these regions.

But where can the regions get funds to finance their needs?

Economist Rovshan Agayev answers these and other questions in the program "Difficult Question".

According to him, economists close to the government argue that the regions are becoming economically independent and able to provide for themselves, and due to this, they are less and less in need of receiving funds from the state budget.

However, according to Agayev, this is a rather controversial point of view, because Azerbaijan lacks the concept of administrative independence inherent in developed countries. And the regions can be financially independent only when they have a certain administrative independence.

“The regional government (i.e. the municipality) should have autonomy - they should have the right to tax, take an initiative aimed at forming their own budget, collect taxes, spend for the implementation of various goals and projects, finance organizations located on its territory ( for example, schools), provide scholarships, etc.,”said the economist.

According to Agayev, in Azerbaijan, the local Executive Authorities are only executors of the instructions of the central government and are deprived of any autonomy.

“And in this situation, there is no need to talk about financial independence, self-financing. Because administrative autonomy and financial independence go hand in hand. The theory says about it and it is confirmed by practice,”Agayev is sure.—0—