Baku, Azerbaijan, May 26
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Restructuring foreign debt of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) would prepare the bank for privatization, Asim Zulfugarov, deputy executive director at Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), told Trend.
Moreover, restructuring the IBA’s foreign debt will positively affect Azerbaijan's banking system as a whole, Zulfugarov noted.
FIMSA head Rufat Aslanli earlier said that privatization of the IBA will be announced in 2017 and both local and foreign investors will be able to participate in this process.
“About 40 percent of the sector’s assets account for the IBA’s share, which poses a threat to the banking system. It is therefore necessary to increase the size of the IBA to a level that will not threaten the banking system,” he added.
Earlier, the IBA commenced a process of voluntary debt restructuring as part of its rehabilitation. The International Bank of Azerbaijan has been operating since 1992 and is one of the country’s two state-owned banks.