Azerbaijan, Baku, 7 March / corr. Trend A. Badalova/ International Bank for Reconstruction and Development will offer new crediting terms from February which includes a reduction in credit prices and the extension of maximum term of repayment to 30 years with an average term of repayment of 18 years and the introduction of special crediting in emergency cases as well as, John Balafoutis the regional employee of the Bank on Europe and Central Asia said during his visit to Baku.
"New terms will raise the competitiveness of the Bank's resources," Balafoutis said. According to Balafoutis the interest rates on the credits for the development program totals 0.17% annually and on investment programs it totals 0.32%.
According to Balafoutis, unlike the previous terms, the new crediting terms do not divide the borrower countries into categories. "The countries were divided into five categories previously. The first category included low income countries and the fifth category was divided into countries with a high level of income. The repayment term for the first category totaled 20 years and for the fifth category 15-20 years. Azerbaijan was included in the third category and accordingly the repayment term for the county was 17 years with a 4-year grace period. The elimination of categories enabled the countries with an average income to borrow long term credit," Balafoutis said.
According to Balafoutis, the countries can borrow emergency credits worth of $500mln for a short period of time.
"We informed the Azerbaijani government of the new system and visited the Cabinet of Ministers and Ministry of Finance. We will provide new terms and then decide whether to allocate a new credit," Balafoutis said.