The Chamber of Accounts is of the opinion that, considering the volatility in global financial markets, forecasting net financial assets (NFA) under various scenarios for the medium term will contribute to public finance from a fiscal planning perspective.
From July 1, 2024, to October 1, 2025, an increase of approximately 14.5 billion US dollars or 24.7 billion manats was observed in the gold assets of the State Oil Fund (SOFAZ), which is a key component of net financial assets.
Modern.az reports that this was stated in the opinion of the Chamber of Accounts.
It was noted that this increase stemmed from the dynamics related to both the volume and the price of gold.
Thus, during the relevant period, SOFAZ's gold reserves increased from 114.9 tons to 184.8 tons (5,940,406.0 troy ounces), and the price of one ounce of gold increased by approximately 1,560.0 US dollars, reaching 3,886.1 US dollars from 2,327.8 US dollars.
One of the key points in this regard is the high share of equity assets in SOFAZ's investment portfolio (25.8% as of October 1, 2025) and the expected returns on the main equity index it tracks.
“An increase of approximately 1.1 billion manats was observed in SOFAZ's fund balance for net financial assets during the period covering only July and August 2025. It should be noted that forecasts from global financial institutions and analytical centers regarding gold prices indicate that gold reserves will continue to support NFA in 2026. Considering the above, we are of the opinion that forecasting NFA under various scenarios in the medium and long term can make a certain contribution to public finance from a fiscal planning perspective,” the Chamber of Accounts stated in its opinion.
