Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 7 /Trend A.Akhundov/
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) sees the need to reduce bank interest rates on loans, CBA Chairman of the Board Elman Rustamov told journalists on Wednesday.
"If we want to develop non-oil sector to diversify the economy, we must take action to reduce the cost of capital for small and medium-sized enterprises," Rustamov said. "One of the sources of this capital is bank loans."
Rustamov noted that as soon as the CBA will seek to reduce interest rates on bank loans, maintaining macroeconomic stability, to avoid higher inflation.
Significant changes in nominal interest rates on loans and deposits were not observed, compared to the real rate in 2011. Thus, the average interest rate on deposits was 11 percent, 16-17 percent on loans, according to new deposits attracted in September, and credits were 11 and 16 percent respectively.
The real interest rate on deposits and credits in manat reduced from 5.6 percent to 2.6 percent and from 10 percent to 7.6 percent, respectively in September 2011 compared to September 2010