The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) sold $39.1 million to eight local banks through the auction held by Azerbaijan’s Central Bank (CBA) March 16, SOFAZ said March 16.

SOFAZ offered $100 million for sale through the auction.

Thus, SOFAZ will continue selling foreign currency through auctions in 2016.

The foreign currency is sold as part of SOFAZ’s transfers to the Azerbaijani state budget, which are envisaged to stand at 7.615 billion Azerbaijani manats in 2016.

SOFAZ was established in 1999 with assets of $271 million.

As of January 1, 2016, SOFAZ assets reduced by 9.5 percent compared to 2014 ($37.1 billion) and were estimated at $33.57 billion.