Finance minister says Azerbaijan takes cautious approach to oil price forecasts

Azerbaijan applies a stable, balanced and conservative approach to forecasting oil prices, which helps ensure the stability of fiscal policy, Finance Minister Sahil Babayev said, as quoted by Report.

Babayev made the remarks at a meeting of the Milli Majlis Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship.

He said state budget revenues were executed at 102.2%, while the non-oil sector achieved 101.6% execution.

The minister noted that the oil price of $70 per barrel set in last year's budget closely matched the actual average price of $71 per barrel.

Babayev added that the $65 per barrel oil price used in this year's budget reflects a conservative approach. This allows additional revenues, in favorable market conditions, to be directed to the State Oil Fund while maintaining stable budget planning.