Azerbaijan's 1H 06 budget surplus $220 mln, inflation 5.6%

According to RIA Novosti, Arif Valiyev told a news conference that budget revenues in the first six months of 2006 had grown 76.2% year-on-year to 1.292 billion manat ($1.45 bln), with spending rising 52.2% in the same period to 1.118 billion manat ($1.23 bln).

Azerbaijan's population stood at 8.3 million as of July 1, with a working population of 3.9 million, or 47%., he said, adding that the employed services had officially registered 55,400 jobseekers.

He said the average monthly salary had reached 142 manat (about $156), up 20.4% year-on-year.

Valiyev said Tuesday that Azerbaijan's gross domestic product totaled over $7.81 billion in January-June 2006, up 36.3% year-on-year, with GDP per capita growing 34.7% y-o-y to $944.