Azernews.Az

The interest of foreign investors in Azerbaijan's microfinance market is increasing, executive director of the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA) Jale Hajiyeva told Trend news agency.

Several contracts are to be signed with microfinance institutions in the country before the end of the year.

"Three new investors began talks with our microfinance institutions this year and are ready to sign first contracts by the end of the year. These are the funds from the U.S. and Switzerland, which are interested in working in our region. Today the negotiations have positive results," Hajiyeva said, without citing their names.

The amount of funding will depend on the potential of the market. At present, investors are evaluating market demand and the number of non-bank credit institutions meeting their requirements.

At present, a total of 20 investors are involved in the Azerbaijani microfinance market, Hajiyeva added.

AMFA currently has 30 members. These include nine banks dealing with microfinance, 16 non-bank credit institutions established by international humanitarian organizations, two leasing companies, two credit unions and the German-Azerbaijan Fund.

The total amount of AMFA members' microcredit portfolio increased 11.45 per cent during the year to exceed $720 million by late July. In 2011, the growth was 32.3 per cent.

The share of the microcredit portfolio under risk is three per cent.