Azernews.Az

The World Bank is looking forward to continued cooperation with Azerbaijan in the development of capital markets, WB's acting Country Manager Rufiz Chirag-zade said Friday.

Speaking at a conference on the National Depository Center anniversary, Chirag-zade stressed Azerbaijan's rapid economic development, but added, "This success, particularly in the area of poverty reduction, has been achieved mainly by revenues from the oil and gas sector. These revenues are expected to be kept at the same level over the next 10 years, but they can be subsequently reduced.Therefore, it is necessary to diversify the economy and develop the non-oil sector to maintain the momentum of economic growth."

Chirag-zade said it is very important to develop the capital markets in Azerbaijan. The development of capital markets is also important in terms of expanding the range of financial services, he said.

"The Azerbaijani financial system makes a great contribution to the economic development of the country," he said. "However, financial services in Azerbaijan are mainly rendered through banks."

Chirag-zade said the increase in capital markets volume will affect the growth of the non-oil sector of the economy. "The more innovative they [the markets] are, the more new products and the more alternatives will appear for investors," he said.

The World Bank has provided Azerbaijan with a $12 million loan to implement a project on modernizing the capital market. The project will be financed by a loan of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), part of the World Bank Group.

The Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) has approved allocation of technical assistance worth $1.6 million for the two components under the capital market development project in Azerbaijan, which envision improvement of the legal framework and development of new financial instruments to promote supply on the market.