BAKU

Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund SOFAZ said it had sold $1.6 billion at currency auctions to transfer manats to the country’s state budget in the first quarter of this year, 9.8 percent up 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 March alone, SOFAZ sold $526.2 million compared to $371.2 million sold in February.

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.