Azerbaijan’s balance of payments had a surplus of $3.939 billion in the first nine months of 2021 in comparison with a deficit of $208.3 million in January-September 2020, the central bank said.

The surplus in the oil and gas sector in the first nine months amounted to $8.2 billion, 100 percent up from the same period last year, due to an increase in world oil and gas prices. In the non-oil sector, a deficit of $4,3 billion was recorded, 1.5 percent up from January-September 2020.

The average oil price in January-September 2021 was $61.90 per barrel against $41.60 a year earlier.

The central bank expects that the current account surplus will exceed $3 billion in 2021 with an average oil price at $65 per barrel.

In 2020, the current account deficit amounted to $227.6 million in 2020 due to a drop in global oil prices.