Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee for Economic Policy, Industries and Enterprising Tahir Mirkishili presented the agenda consisting of the 3^rd-reading 2023 State Budget Bill of the Republic of Azerbaijan at the committee meeting held on 5 December.

He said that the deliberations at the committees’ meetings and plena of the Milli Majlis alike had seen more than 120 MP speeches and commentaries, both during the first and the second readings, which, to him, is a sign of a spacious dialogue and comprehensive discussion ambience for the budgetary plans in the national legislature.

The committee chairman recalled the dissolution of the State Customs Committee of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with its former units and personnel being amalgamated into the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan to a presidential decree. This metamorphosis must necessarily be reflected in the State Budget. The financing of the new NAR Chief Customs Directorate will be drawn from the central budget of the country rather than the autonomy’s one. The revenues and expenses of the 2023 State Budget of Azerbaijan have therefore been raised by more than AZN 53 mn whereas the consolidated budget has changed by approximately AZN 20 mn. Also, appropriate changes are being made to the structure of the Budget and some rules in effect until now.

Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov informed the committee members of the draft amendments. According to the minister, it became necessary to include AZN 53.2 mn manats of revenues of the abolished committee of the Autonomous Republic in the next year's State Budget. In addition, the AZN 20.6 mn of the maintenance costs of the Chief Customs Directorate that replaces the dissolved NAR Customs Committee were taken out of the autonomous budget line and included in the expenses of the State Customs Committee. The resulting State Budget subsidies to the NAR will rise to AZN 482.4 mn and it follows from all those that the 2023 State Budget’s draft revenues and expenses are taken up to AZN 30,773,978 thousand and AZN 33,353,278 thousand respectively whereas the budgetary deficit and the costs/expenses of the consolidated budget remain without changes.

Deputy Chairman of the committee Ali Masimli and the MPs Vahid Ahmadov, Vugar Bayramov, Mahir Abbaszade and Aydin Huseynov voiced their considerations about the Bill and the amendments therein as well as other matters. They also asked a number of questions, duly answered and clarified by Mr Sharifov.

In the end, the Draft 2023 State Budget of the Republic of Azerbaijan was recommended for submission to a plenum of the Milli Majlis in its current third reading.

The participation of the committee meeting included the MPs Elnur Allahverdiyev, Mazahir Efendiyev, Rufat Guliyev, Anar Mammadov and Igbal Mammadov.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis