IMF and WB to Re-assess Banking Sector of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Khalilova / The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) will begin the second stage of assessing the financial sector in Azerbaijan within technical assistance on the financial sector appraisal program (FSAP), said the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Azerbaijan, Rufat Aslanli, on 26 October at the meeting of Azerbaijan Parliament's Commission for Economic Co-operation.
"The Government of Azerbaijan made an appeal to these international organizations to begin the second stage of assessment," Aslanli said. According to him, the IMF experts arrived in Azerbaijan in April to verify the results of the first assessment which was held in 2003.
"They highly assessed the measures held in the country, but they highlighted the lag in several directions, especially independence of the NBA," Aslanli said.
In 2003 the IMF and the WB held assessment of the banking, insurance and securities markets of Azerbaijan. However, the banking legislation incurred amendments and therefore, the results of assessment lost their importance. In addition, the works are continuing taking into consideration the recommendations of the experts. Aslanli said that currently the operation independence of the NBA, which ensures macroeconomic stability and regulates the financial sector, is the topic of discussions. Taking into consideration the revenues of Azerbaijan and the macroeconomic situation, this issue assumes great importance.
Aslanli considers that adopting Laws on Banks and NBA and many normative acts served removal of the issues specified in FSAP in the first stage of assessment. The IMF and WB specialists held stress-tests (stimulating and economic modeling during drop of the indicators) in Azerbaijan which testified high capacity of the Country's banking sector. The tests showed that even due to the 50-70% decrease of the indicators, the banking sector will not fall up to zero capital and its assets will exceed obligations.
