BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 27. Azerbaijan allocated
2.458 billion manats ($1.45 billion) for servicing public debt and
related obligations under its 2026 state budget, according to the
country's Finance Ministry.


The ministry said that during the first six months of 2026, the
government spent a total of 944.8 million manats ($555.8 million)
on debt servicing. This included 275.9 million manats ($162.3
million) in interest payments on domestic public debt and 668.9
million manats ($393.5 million) on external public debt, comprising
494.2 million manats ($290.7 million) in principal repayments and
174.7 million manats ($102.8 million) in interest payments.


Taking into account operational data on the use of external
borrowings for ongoing projects and principal repayments on foreign
debt, Azerbaijan's external public debt stood at $4.617 billion as
of July 1, 2026.


According to preliminary data, external public debt amounted to
6% of the country's projected gross domestic product (GDP) as of
July 1.


Operational data also showed that domestic public debt totaled
15.982 billion manats ($9.40 billion) as of July 1, representing
12.2% of projected GDP for 2026.


The Finance Ministry also reported that Azerbaijan's state
budget recorded a surplus in the first half of the year, with
revenues reaching 19.179 billion manats ($11.28 billion) and
expenditures totaling 16.776 billion manats ($9.87 billion),
resulting in a surplus of 2.404 billion manats ($1.41 billion).







Budget revenues exceeded the forecast of 18.829 billion manats
($11.07 billion) by 350.3 million manats ($206.1 million), or 1.9%,
reaching 49.7% of the annual revenue target.


Excluding transfers from the State Oil Fund of the Republic of
Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), budget revenues totaled 12.759 billion manats
($7.51 billion), exceeding the forecast by 2.8%.


Tax revenues accounted for 8.843 billion manats ($5.20 billion),
or 46.1%, of total budget revenues, while SOFAZ transfers amounted
to 6.420 billion manats ($3.78 billion), or 33.5%. Customs revenues
reached 3.144 billion manats ($1.85 billion), with the remainder
generated from paid services by state-funded organizations, leasing
of state property and other sources.


Compared with budget projections, tax revenues exceeded the
target by 217.7 million manats ($128.1 million), customs revenues
by 10.4 million manats ($6.1 million), income from leasing state
property by 5.5 million manats ($3.2 million), and other revenues
by 246.2 million manats ($144.8 million). Revenues from paid
services provided by state-funded organizations fell 108.7 million
manats ($63.9 million) below the forecast, while SOFAZ transfers
were executed as planned.


Compared with the first half of 2025, tax revenues increased by
139 million manats ($81.8 million), customs revenues by 52.5
million manats ($30.9 million), income from leasing state property
by 6.3 million manats ($3.7 million), and revenues from paid
services by state-funded organizations by 38.6 million manats
($22.7 million).