A joint session of five parliamentary committees has considered the state budget for 2010 and recommended it for submission to a plenary session of Azerbaijan's parliament, the Milli Majlis.
The bill will be considered at a joint session of three more parliamentary committees on Wednesday.
Ziyad Samedzade, head of the committee for economic policy, said that the bill not only secures the country’s economy from the negative impact of the global crisis but also lays a foundation for the future development of the country.
Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said that forecasts from international organizations for 2010, the country’s development in 2009 and ensuring economic, energy and food safety formed the basis of the budget.
“Considering the conservative forecast of an export oil price ($45 per barrel), the decision to reduce the tax burden and expectations of inflation decline, the forecast of growth in state budget revenues for 2010 is lower than that for 2008 and 2009,” Sharifov said.
The 2010 draft budget sets revenue at 10.015 billion Azerbaijani manats (AZN) and expenditure at 11.264 billion manats respectively with a budget deficit of AZN 1.249 million.
The main sources of budget revenue are the State Oil Fund (AZN 4.915bn), VAT (AZN 1.876bn), corporate profit tax (AZN 1.096bn), individual income tax (AZN 680 million) and excise tax (AZN 552 million).
Public capital investment accounts for AZN 3.549bn of expenditure.
In addition, AZN 1,276.8 million will be spent on education, AZN 1,205.8 million on defence, AZN 1,192.3 million on social security, AZN 1,042.3 million on general government services, AZN 707.4 million on law enforcement and the judiciary and AZN 479.4 million on healthcare.
Fineko/abc.az