BAKU

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund SOFAZ said it had sold $727 million at currency auctions to transfer manats to the country’s state budget in January, 8.6 percent down from a year earlier.

The SOFAZ sovereign wealth oil fund holds proceeds from oil contracts, oil and gas sales, transit fees and other revenue. It mainly uses income from investments to pay for social spending and infrastructure projects. The Fund’s transfers to the state budget make up the bulk of its revenues. Transfers also help to keep the national currency stable.

In 2021, SOFAZ sold $6.679 billion on the forex market, 8.6 percent down from a year earlier. In total, the Fund transferred 123.5 million manats to the state budget last year. In December alone, the Fund sold $989.1 million on the foreign exchange market compared to $853.6 million sold in November last year.