Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 15 / Trend N. Ismayilova /
A WB mission headed by Financial Sector Chief Specialist Michael Edwards will arrive in Baku on Oct. 16-31, the WB office in Baku said.
The visit aims to familiarize with the implementation of projects of the bank in the financial sector of the country, the completion of the project of development of financial services, drafting of capital market development, as well as the implementation of programs to protect consumers and financial literacy.
"The details and parameters of the project will be specified while discussing the project of capital market development.
The results will be summarized soon," WB said.
The total cost of the project "Development of financial services", the main component of which is the modernization of the postal network of the country, is $17,5 million. About $12.25 million fall to a WB loan and the rest part - to the Azerbaijani government. The Swiss government also provided technical assistance to implement the project worth $ 612,000.
WB is considering to approve about $5-10 millions for capital market development in Azerbaijan. About $73 million preferential loan is possible to be provided from the quotas of the International Development Association (part of the WB) for Azerbaijan in 2011 fiscal year to finance this project.
The State Committee for Securities and international experts planned to finalize the strategy for capital market development in Azerbaijan during 2011-2015 and the medium-term plan for its implementation during April-June this year as part of this project. Project for Improvement of Capital Market includes the provision of large-scale technical assistance to implement this strategy.
The implementation of the capital market development project is scheduled to begin by the end of 2010. Currently, the program First Initiative, funded by various international donor agencies and the World Bank, specifies the design of the project. In general, the State Securities Committee of Azerbaijan has reached an agreement with First Initiative on the financing and technical support in the preparation of strategies of capital market development in Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijani Central Bank jointly with the World Bank prepared a report to protect consumers of financial services and increase knowledge in the field of finance within another project in summer. This is the first report of this kind in Azerbaijan. It covers both the legal structure, financial control and the microfinance sector. This is initial version of the report. It will be amended in the future.
Nine similar reports have been already prepared in Europe and Asia.