OREANDA-NEWS. April 29, 2010. One of the governmental experts has claimed that in this connection checks in SOFAZ launched by the Accounting Chamber is a move in right direction.

“More than 10 years of Fund’s existence is sufficient period to define rightness of basic directives during its establishment and soundness f their realization by the SOFAZ management,” the expert said.

International organizations recognized SOFAZ the most effective stabilization tool in hands of the Azerbaijani government. In particular, the Asian Development Bank indicated that in 2009 the share of SOFAZ’s transfer to State Budget of Azerbaijan rose from 35.3% up to 47.6% of overall state revenues. As a result, budget deficit of 242 million manats (0.7% of GDP) without Fund’s transfer would total 5.1 bn manats (14.8% of GDP).

“Originally the Fund has three functions – stabilization, investment and accumulating. Even the issue of stabilization role of the SOFAZ is controversial as efficiency of stabilizing functions is linked not so with activity of the Fund itself but with effectiveness of the system of cutting-off from the market set by the late president Heydar Aliyev and accumulation of superfluous earnings from basic resources – oil and gas. At the same time it is apparent that the level of SOFAZ’s expenditures turned out higher than it was expected initially,” the expert said.

By early 2010 SOFAZ assets were estimated in USD14.9 bn but their figure as of 1 April of the year has not been published.