Azeri banks ‘coped with crisis’
Azerbaijani banks have overcome the crisis, says
chairman of the Central Bank steering board.
Elman Rustamov told reporters that with the aim to counter the recession, the government has curtailed banks’ borrowing "not by administrative, but by economic means." Thus, the Central Bank has provided financial aid to banks to prevent them from falling under debt. Moreover, the Central Bank has offered a package of assistance for local banks to the government. Tax concessions have been applied to banks and insurance companies for the purpose of capitalization. Owing to these efforts, the operation of Azerbaijani banks completely stabilized in 2009, when the crisis hit the hardest, the central banker said.
In addition to surmounting the crisis, growth was reported in the country’s banking sector in the last nine months of last year. According to Rustamov, loan allocations increased 17% and term deposits 30%. "And this is not a bad indicator for the peak year of the crisis."
Rustamov said the deposits of foreign nationals held in local banks are on the rise as well. The figure increased 24% in the first quarter of 2010. "This shows that the confidence of not only our population but also that of foreign residents in Azerbaijan’s banking sector is quite high," Rustamov added.*
Elman Rustamov told reporters that with the aim to counter the recession, the government has curtailed banks’ borrowing "not by administrative, but by economic means." Thus, the Central Bank has provided financial aid to banks to prevent them from falling under debt. Moreover, the Central Bank has offered a package of assistance for local banks to the government. Tax concessions have been applied to banks and insurance companies for the purpose of capitalization. Owing to these efforts, the operation of Azerbaijani banks completely stabilized in 2009, when the crisis hit the hardest, the central banker said.
In addition to surmounting the crisis, growth was reported in the country’s banking sector in the last nine months of last year. According to Rustamov, loan allocations increased 17% and term deposits 30%. "And this is not a bad indicator for the peak year of the crisis."
Rustamov said the deposits of foreign nationals held in local banks are on the rise as well. The figure increased 24% in the first quarter of 2010. "This shows that the confidence of not only our population but also that of foreign residents in Azerbaijan’s banking sector is quite high," Rustamov added.*
Here we are to serve you with news right now. It does not cost much, but worth your attention.
Choose to support open, independent, quality journalism and subscribe on a monthly basis.
By subscribing to our online newspaper, you can have full digital access to all news, analysis, and much more.
Subscribe
You can also follow AzerNEWS on Twitter @AzerNewsAz or Facebook @AzerNewsNewspaper
Thank you!