Baku, Azerbaijan, May 27
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The ability of the Azerbaijani government to support the banking sector in the case of need is sufficient, said Moody's analyst Maria Malyukova.
She made the remarks during the forum on risk management in Baku.
Malyukova said that this support is connected with the high level of Azerbaijan's total currency reserves - 81 percent of the GDP (at the end of 2015), and relatively small size of the banking system - 44 percent of the GDP.
"According to our forecasts, Azerbaijan's GDP in 2016 is expected at the level of SOFAZ's (State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan) reserves at the end of 2015, which amounted to $33.6 billion," noted Malyukova.
The expert added that these reserves are an original safety bag for various economic shocks.
Moody's assesses the factor of state support to Azerbaijan's banking sector as stable.
"We expect that the support will be provided, first of all, to the major (backbone) banks," said Malyukova.
Meanwhile, the government conducted a series of measures to reduce the impact of the national currency's devaluation that was carried out through the weakening of a number of factors for banks, she added.
"Direct support to banks will be provided selectively," said the expert adding that the preference will be given to banks with large deposit base.
As for the risks of refinancing, Moody's thinks that they are small for Azerbaijan's banking system, since the share of borrowings on the market is not big, said Malyukova.
Moody's assesses the rating of seven Azerbaijani banks, which form 57 percent of all assets in the sector.
Edited by SI