Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.24 /Trend A.Taghiyeva/
Assets of the Turkish İş Bankası increased by 23 per cent amounting to 161.7 billion lira in 2011 compared to 2010, the bank said on Friday.
Last year the number of loans issued by the bank increased by 43 per cent, to 91.6 billion lire. At the same time, customer loans increased by 29 per cent, lending to small and medium-sized businesses by 37 per cent and trade by 54 per cent.
İş Bankası opened 65 new branches, installed 401 ATMs (currently the number is 4538) in 2011. The bank has 1180 branches in Turkey and 17 branches abroad and two foreign offices. İş Bankası also plans to enter the Azerbaijan banking market.
The Bank's board decided to purchase a bank operating in Azerbaijan, or create a new one, a spokesperson previously told Trend.
"We have not decided on which local bank we are going to purchase, so a formal appeal to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan for a permit hasn't been submitted yet. However, our bank has already made a decision on this issue," the spokesperson said. İş Bankası has appealed to the CBA for permission to open a branch.
Official exchange rate on Feb.24 is 1.7508 USD/TL