The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) reports that on June 30, 2023, SOFAZ assets increased by 12% compared to the beginning of 2023 (49 033.6 million US dollars) and amounted to 54 915.1 million US dollars.

During the period of January-June 2023, the budget revenues of SOFAZ amounted to 11 701.4 million manats, and the budget expenses amounted to 2 680.8 million manats.

During the period of January-June 2023, the revenues of SOFAZ related to the implementation of oil and gas agreements are 8 624.3 million manats, including 7 854.6 million manats from oil and gas profits, bonus payments amounted to 765.3 million manats, transit revenues amounted to 0.8 million manats, acre account payments amounted 3.6 million manats.

The revenues from managing SOFAZ’s assets for January-June 2023 amounted to 3 077.1 million manats.

The extra-budgetary revenues of SOFAZ amounted to 977.6 million manats due to the difference caused by the variation in exchange rates.

During the reporting period, 2 661.0 million manats have been transferred to the state budget within the 2023 SOFAZ budget implementation framework. 5.2 million manats have been directed to financing the "2019-2023 State Program on increasing the international competitiveness of the higher education system of Azerbaijan" and 3.6 million manats have been directed to financing “State Program for the Education of Youth at Prestigious Universities of Foreign Countries for 2022-2026”.

From January-June 2023, the expenses related to the management of SOFAZ amounted to 11.0 million manats.

The increase in assets during the first half of 2023 can be attributed to the surplus of budget revenues over expenses, which includes the revenues generated from fund management. The stock sub-portfolio demonstrated the highest profitability during this period. Although there has been an economic recovery since the beginning of the year, the continuation of a strict monetary policy has raised the risk of an economic slowdown. Additionally, the fact that inflation remains above the target rates set by leading central banks suggests the possibility of future interest rate hikes.

It should be mentioned that the increase in asset volume was also influenced by the rise in gold prices and the strengthening of exchange rates for the main currencies included in the investment portfolio relative to the US dollar.