Azerbaijan expanding cooperation with IMF on fiscal statistics

Azerbaijan’s Finance Ministry, together with experts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has completed the next stage of work to improve fiscal statistics, reads the IMF’s technical update on the mission of the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center (CCAMTAC), Report informs.

According to the document, the mission of IMF expert Roderick O’Mahony was conducted in a hybrid format – remotely in November 2025 and in person in Baku in February 2026.

The main objective of the work was to assist the Azerbaijani authorities in compiling quarterly and annual fiscal statistics in accordance with the Government Finance Statistics Manual 2014 (GFSM 2014) international standard to improve transparency and the quality of economic analysis.

As part of the approved annual action plan, the Public Debt and Financial Liabilities Management Agency under Azerbaijan’s Finance Ministry agreed to begin regularly submitting quarterly government debt data to the joint IMF-World Bank Quarterly Public Sector Debt Statistics (QPSD) database.

Furthermore, according to IMF estimates, Azerbaijan’s annual public finance statistics for 2025 will be officially submitted to the IMF Statistics Department by the end of July 2026.

The update notes that the parties are resolving methodological discrepancies in the accounting of total debt liabilities.

Specifically, a mechanism for accounting for loans from state corporations, guaranteed or financed by the state, is being developed to ensure their accurate reflection in government sector reporting.

Furthermore, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Finance and the IMF will continue to expand the institutional coverage of fiscal statistics.

In the long term, legal entities of public law (LEPL) and extra-budgetary funds will be integrated into the central government’s consolidated reporting.

The authorities are also preparing to update the national functional classification of budget expenditures in accordance with the Classification of Functions of Government (COFOG) standard and are considering the implementation of a new Chart of Accounts, which will require a new phase of technical assistance from international financial institutions.