The review of the non-governmental national budget group of the state budget for fiscal year 2014 has been released (revenues – 18,384,000,000 AZN or down 775,000,000 against forecasted for this year, costs – 20,063,000,000 or up 213,000,000 AZN against this year).
The experts believe that as previously the main specific weight (50.8%) of the budget revenues will fall to the transfers from the State Oil Fund, only 38.6% to the tax service, 8.2% - to the customs committee and 2.4% - other inpayments.
The Taxes Ministry will collect over one third (39.5%) of funds at the expense of transfers of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) and the production sharing contracts.
The customs will ensure a significant amount of earnings at the expense of hydrocarbons export – the budget will again depend to the oil production and world oil prices (68.4% of all earnings, this year – 73.09%).
The national budget group disagrees with the official estimates of growth of non-oil revenues against the background of reduction of capital investments and long-term tax remissions for investment into the securities, for the agricultural production and industrial parks.
According to the calculations, in 2014 income per capita will total 1,975 AZN ($2,515) with the non-oil incomes of 625 AZN ($800). The total income per capita in Russia is planned to be $2900, while in Kazakhstan - $2100. The post-socialism countries with no hydrocarbon resources the situation is different – Slovenia expects to have $10,597 per capita, Hungary - $7,474, Slovakia - $6,018, Croatia - $5,679, Czech Republic - $4,900 and etc.
SOCAR, consolidated taxes and other allocations will be more active in the budget and they will increase by 22.5% or 335,000,000 AZN up to 1,825,000,000 AZN against this year’s expectations. The profit tax of the foreign oil companies from the PSA is expected to be 977,000,000 AZN, down 173,000,000 AZN against the forecasted this year.—0—
Economics
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Last week, Azerbaijani media reported an impending increase in retail bread prices, attributing the rise to an increase in product weight. The following day, an official notification confirmed that the government had no intentions of sanctioning a bread price hike in the country. However, the threat of a price increase for this staple food remains for another reason.
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S&P Global Ratings has revised its risk assessment of Azerbaijan’s banking sector, upgrading the outlook from "stable" to "positive."
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In recent days, there have been claims that bread prices in Azerbaijan have risen. Social media users report that the price of bread has increased by 5-10 qepiks. According to consumer complaints, it is difficult to find weight information on factory-produced bread, commonly known as "zavod çörəyi" in Azerbaijan. In many cases, bread packaging does not include weight details. Similarly, bread sold at smaller bakeries and tandir houses often lacks information apart from the price.
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A trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers, transport ministers, energy ministers, and heads of customs services of Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan is set to take place soon to discuss the progress of the Rasht-Astara railway project, a key element of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). This was announced by Iran’s Ambassador to Russia, Kazem Jalali.
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