BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 6. The volume of refunds
from Azerbaijan's state budget in the first half of the current
year has been announced.


This information was published on the website of the country's
Finance Ministry.


According to the information, a total of 154.6 million manat
($90.9 million) was refunded from the state budget to individuals
and legal entities in the reporting period.


The information noted that the refunded funds include
value-added tax (VAT) paid by individuals when purchasing goods in
the retail trade and public catering sectors, paying for services
in the cultural sector (theaters, cinemas, museums, concerts),
medical services, as well as hotel services in the liberated
territories.


"In addition, VAT refunds were provided to foreign citizens for
purchases of domestically produced goods in the country's territory
that were not intended for commercial purposes. Furthermore, part
of the VAT paid through cashless purchases of residential and
non-residential premises from persons engaged in construction
activities, as well as overpaid amounts of other taxes, state
duties, interest, and financial sanctions, were refunded," the
ministry said.


Earlier, Finance Minister Sahil Babayev said during a
parliamentary discussion of the draft law on the execution of the
state budget in 2025 that, maintaining fiscal discipline, the
indicators of the budget rule were fulfilled within the established
upper limits in Azerbaijan last year.







According to the minister, the ratio of the consolidated
budget's non-oil base deficit to non-oil gross domestic product
(GDP) stood at 18.6% in 2025, 3.5 percentage points below the
target level of 22%. Babayev noted the share of non-oil revenues in
the consolidated budget increased to 55.2%, up 2.8 percentage
points from the previous year.


Noting maintenance of positive trends in public debt management,
the minister said that as of June 1, 2026, Azerbaijan's public debt
stood at 24.1 billion manat ($14.2 billion), equivalent to 18.4% of
GDP.


"This indicator decreased by 11.9% from the beginning of the
year. The average maturity of government bonds increased to 3.8
years, while the share of seven-year and 10-year bonds in the debt
portfolio rose, indicating an improvement in the portfolio's
structure," he said.


The minister also highlighted growth in the assets of the State
Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ). As of Jan. 1, 2026, the fund's
assets had increased by $13.5 billion to reach $73.5 billion,
providing a strong long-term financial buffer to support
macroeconomic stability and development.