16:28 - 18.04.2023

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April 18, Fineko/abc.az. SOFAZ’s assets amounted to $53.437 bn as of March 31, 2023 (9% more than at the beginning of 2023 - $49.03 bn).

ABC.AZ was informed at SOFAZ that the latter transferred AZN 1.576 bn to the State Budget as part of implementation of the 2023 budget.

SOFAZ allocated AZN 1.2 million to finance the State Program to increase the international competitiveness of the higher education system in Azerbaijan for 2019-2023, AZN 2 million to finance the State Program of Youth Education in prestigious higher educational institutions of foreign countries for 2022-2026.

In the 1st quarter, expenses related to the management of SOFAZ amounted to AZN 5.1 million.

While the volatility in the international financial markets last year was to some extent observed in the SOFAZ investment portfolio during the first 3 months of 2023, the growth of optimism in the markets amid the gradual improvement in economic indicators, as well as expectations of monetary policy easing at the end of this year with gradual decrease in the growth rate of interest rates led to that SOFAZ showed its positive contribution.

At that, amid the crisis in the financial sector, especially in the banking sector of the U.S. and Switzerland, the improvement in the quality of the SOFAZ bond sub-portfolio in recent years allowed avoiding possible negative consequences, which led to an increase in the profitability of the investment portfolio in March due to the effect of diversification.

Nevertheless, even if there is a positive trend in some economic indicators of developed countries, the probability of continued inflation above the target rates set by central banks in the long-term prospect does not exclude uncertainty about the profitability of financial assets.

The excess of the above-mentioned investment and extra-budgetary revenues, as well as revenues from the sale of oil and gas over the forecasts for the first 3 months affected the growth of SOFAZ assets.