State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan intends to boost volume of gold in portfolio 16% to 170 tonnes by May

BAKU. March 6 (Interfax) - The State Oil Fund of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOFAZ) will continue purchasing gold in 2025 and plans to boost the volume in assets to 170 tonnes by April-May, SOFAZ Investment Department Director Farhad Zeinalov told reporters.

"Gold purchases will continue in 2025, and the volume is expected to reach approximately 170 tonnes by April-May," Zeinalov said.

The overall volume of gold in the investment portfolio totaled 146.6 tonnes, 20.6% of the overall portfolio, worth $12.4 billion as on December 31, 2024, thus the volume of gold in the fund's portfolio could increase 16% by April-May.

SOFAZ purchased 44.8 tonnes of gold in 2024, with 41 tonnes having already been delivered to the country. Zeinalov also said that the price of gold increased 27.2% from $2,063 to $2,624 per troy ounce in 2024.

SOFAZ has increased the planned share of gold in its structure of the investment portfolio 4 percentage points to 25% thus far in 2025.

SOFAZ accumulates government revenues from the sale of oil contracts, particularly from selling the government's profitable oil and gas, from collecting tariffs for the transportation of oil and gas across the country, from leasing out government property, and other activities. SOFAZ had assets totaling an estimated $60 billion at the end of 2024.