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Thursday, March 28, 2024

SOFAZ to invest $500 million in yuan

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) is planning to invest $500 million in Chinese yuan assets.

SOFAZ also is looking to diversify its assets within real estate markets in Asia, the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce said Monday.

"We'll continue to look at South Korea for properties," SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov said. "We're looking at Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China. All the main hubs in Europe are in our agenda. We're looking for very prime assets, which are intended to actually replace our very low-yield bonds that we have in our portfolio."

China has one of the largest economies on the global stage. The yuan has multiple prospects as an attractive investment currency.

Movsumov said despite the Russian ruble's crisis, the fund intends to hold on to its share of rubles and its stock in VTB Bank. He also said the fund is expecting oil prices to stabilize and recover in the latter part of this year.

"Obviously, nobody expects (crude oil prices) to come up as rapidly as it happened in 2009 and 2010, but they will come up from the levels we see right now," Movsumov said. "Lower oil prices will mean SOFAZ's assets may shrink by about $3 billion."