Baku, Azerbaijan, June 30
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Azerbaijani banks acquired more than $3.02 billion at the auctions organized by the Central Bank (CBA) during the first half of 2016.
The biggest part of the funds obtained by the banks – more than $2.2 billion – was provided by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), according to Trend’s calculations.
CBA too was selling currency to Azerbaijani banks during the first quarter of 2016.
During the period, CBA sold $785.49 million to the banks.
In the second quarter of 2016, CBA began to buy currency rather than selling it. The Central Bank bought $202 million from SOFAZ over the last three months.
Thereby, SOFAZ sold more than $2.4 billion at auctions in January-June 2016.
In total, 61 currency auctions were organized in the first half of 2016.
Azerbaijani banks increased the currency purchase at auctions by 4.3 percent in June, as compared to May. The country’s banks bought $431.4 million at auctions in May, and $450 million in June.
Nine auctions were held in June, as in May. The average daily value of currency purchase was $50 million in June, as compared to $47.9 million in May.
The Central Bank holds auctions twice a week, where CBA and SOFAZ offer currency to local banks.
SOFAZ sold $50 million to 29 banks through the last auction held by the Central Bank.