US Supports Roundtable on Oil Revenues and Institutional Reforms
With the support from USAID, Eurasia Foundation (EF) and the Entrepreneurship Development Foundation concluded their final one-day roundtable entitled “Oil Revenues and Institutional Reforms” on July 12 in Baku. The aim of the discussion was to examine transparency and efficiency issues with regard to the management of oil revenues in Azerbaijan.
According to Sabil Baghirov, President of Entrepreneurship Development Foundation, discussion focused specifically on various aspects of oil revenue allocation and how said funds may be efficiently employed to benefit the development of the non-oil sector in Azerbaijan. The event brought together approximately 50 representatives of the National Parliament, State Oil Fund, international and local NGOs, World Bank, noted economic experts, and journalists.
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| Economic experts and World Bank representative discuss oil revenues and institutional reforms |
Speaking about the share of oil revenues in the State Budget, Ingilab Ahmedov, head of the Public Finance Monitoring Center, said that from 25 to 90 percent of state budgets in oil-rich countries are formed mainly on the basis of oil revenues. He then spoke about the similar relation between Azerbaijan’s state budget and the Oil Fund on overall income.
Christos Kostopoulos, World Bank’s Senior Country Economist for Azerbaijan, presented details of the World Bank-supported program of reforms. Noting that the World Bank closely participates in implementation of several projects addressing the oil sector in Azerbaijan, Kostopoulos indicated that this involvement would continue.
Members of National Parliament’s permanent commission on economic policy Azer Amiraslanov, Ali Masimli and Vahid Ahmadov expressed their positions on the debated issues as well.
This was the last and seventh roundtable conducted as part of the “Oil Revenues: Challenges for Azerbaijan” project implemented by the Entrepreneurship Development Fund in partnership with USAID and EF. Within the scope of the project, a series of discussions between government officials, civil society experts and international financial institution representatives examined state oil revenues. As a result of these deliberations, project implementers will present a package of recommendations to the Parliament and other government bodies. It is anticipated that these suggestions will reflect the group's overall analysis of the most efficient means to manage oil revenues with an eye toward the development needs of Azerbaijan.
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