BAKU, Jan 28: The assets of energy-rich Azerbaijan’s state oil fund more than quadrupled in 2008 to nearly nine billion Azerbaijani manats (11 billion dollars), the fund’s director said on Wednesday.

Forecasts for this year show the fund’s revenues growing to 14 billion manats (17.4 billion dollars) on a predicted oil price of $70 per barrel, the economic stabilisation fund’s executive director, Shahmar Movsumov, told a press conference.

“The drop in oil prices has affected (the fund’s) revenues,” he said.—AFP