IMF MISSION STUDIES AZERBAIJAN BUDGET FOR COMING YEAR
The mission's experts intend to pay special attention to expenditure items and the budget's deficit and the sources to cover it.
According to the press service, the mission's experts' work precedes a visit to Azerbaijan by the head of the mission, John Wakeman-Linn, a representative of the IMF department of the Middle East and Central Asian countries.
The press service spokesman also said that the goal of this visit was not to consider the implementation of Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility program (PRGF program) in Azerbaijan. However, it is possible that the issue will be discussed during the visit as well.
Under the PRGF program, 41.84 million euros ($62 million) have already been allocated to Azerbaijan. The three-year program, adopted in June 2001, and later extended for another year, provides for allocating 80.45 million euros ($119 million) to Azerbaijan.
Loans are given for a period of 10 years at 0.5% annual interest and with a 5.5-year grace period.
Another tranche of loans to Azerbaijan under the PRGF program may come after the IMF Executive Council considers a report on the Azerbaijani government's intentions in September.
At the beginning of April, the IMF mission in Baku issued a statement in which it expressed its concern about the slow implementation of the earlier coordinated measures to privatize the International Bank of Azerbaijan, adopt a long-term strategy of managing the oil profits, formulate and implement a mechanism to correct oil prices, and adopt plans for state enterprises' profits and expenditures for 2004.
The mission's statement also pointed out that the IMF personnel expected proposals from the Azerbaijani government about removing these differences with regard to its reform policy and its acceleration, so that IMF personnel could recommend the fourth review of the PRGF.
Since 1992, Azerbaijan has received $400 million in loans from the IMF.
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