Strategic currency reserves of Azerbaijan has increased by 2.6 percent compared to the beginning of 2013 to $48 billion and this is sufficient to finance three-year import, Azerbaijani Minister of Taxes Fazil Mammadov said at a meeting of the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers to discuss the results of the country's socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2013. "This is one of the main indexes in the world scale from the point of economic security," he noted. During the first quarter of 2013, the revenue of the state budget was iimplemented by 131 percent, Mammadov said, adding that 2.84 billion manat out of 4.67 billion manat of the state budget revenue was transferred by the Azerbaijan State Oil Fund, 1.524 billion manat by Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes and 290 million manat by the Azerbaijani State Customs Committee. Expenditure of the state budget was 4.515 billion manat, the minister added. According to the economic classification, within three months of the current year, 25.8 percent or 1.164 billion manat of the state budget expenditure was allocated to social expenses - pay for of labor, pension and social aids, medicine and commodity expenditures, the minister said.

According to Mammadov, as a result of successful implementation of the state program of socio-economic development of regions, macroeconomic index grew in the country. Investments in fixed capital from all financial sources gave impetus to the many fold growth in the construction of infrastructures, communal, social-service facilities in regions and improvement of the service sector. Regional development, in its turn, made a positive influence on tax incomes, Mammadov said. Remittances from the regions increased by 11.8 times in recent 10 years. As a result of facilitation of registration procedure of entrepreneurship entities, the share of regions was 65.5 percent of registered 20,885 tax payers in the first quarter of 2013. According to him, one of the important steps taken by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to achieve the goals of midterm perspectives of the non-oil sector is to continue stimulating domestic and foreign investments, in particular to increase state investments. During the first quarter of 2013, the state budget allocation for investment amounted to 1.913 million manat, which is by 413 million manat or 27.5 percent more compared to the same period of 2011 and 2012, Mammadov said. By using foreign loan the Azerbaijani government spent 181 million manat on the construction and reconstruction of roads, water supply and melioration systems, agriculture, social and other infrastructures.

To intensify the private sector and to further strengthen the financial support to the priority non-oil sector of the economy in the first quarter of 2013, roughly 606 entrepreneurs received privileged loan worth 81.3 million manat through the National Fund of Entrepreneurship Support, which will create 2,380 new jobs, the minister noted. Mammadov stressed that the quality of financed projects improved by 26 percent, the volume of allocated privileged credits rose by 65.6 percent, the number of new jobs went up by 11 percent as compared to the same period of 2012. Mammadov said 50.2 percent of the privileged loan was allocated to the agricultural sector, and 49.8 percent to the development of various fields of industry. According to him, industrial and technology parks, management organizations and operators in the territory of the country were released from tax payments for permanent period and the persons with the right of resident and private entrepreneurs operating in these parks - for seven years. Mammadov said part of a sum for a14-percent income tax rate was raised from 2,000 to 2,500 manat and the top limit of the tax was decreased from 30 to 25 percent. Mammdov also informed the president about the work carried out for the improvement of ICT system, in particular, exansion of the ASAN service network, stimulation of non-cash operations to provide the transparency of activity of governmental structures and strengthening of measures to combat corruption.