BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6. In order to fulfill the tasks facing the country in accordance with the instructions of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, it became necessary to make changes to the state budget for 2023, Azerbaijani Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov told journalists on the sidelines of a conference themed "Heydar Aliyev and the independent state building of Azerbaijan: the history and present of socio-economic transition," TurkicWorld reports.

The minister noted that the President Ilham Aliyev outlined the main directions.

"First of all, the program of financing projects provided for by the 'Great Return' program is being implemented at a rapid pace. On the other hand, there is also need for additional funds to strengthen the country's defense capability. To do this, it is planned to revise the budget," Sharifov said.

The state budget surplus in the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 1.7 billion manat ($1 billion). At the same time, state budget revenues amounted to 8.2 billion manat ($4.8 billion), while expenditures reached 6.5 billion manat ($3.8 billion).

In addition, the state budget revenues from the non-oil sector from January through March 2023 totaled 4.43 billion manat ($2.6 billion), or 53.4 percent of the total state budget revenue, while for the oil sector - 3.8 billion manat ($2.2 billion).