Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 11 / Trend A. Akhundov /
The capital of Azerbaijani banks increased by 18 per cent in 2012, chairman of the Azerbaijani Central Bank Elman Rustamov said at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The meeting was dedicated to the results of the socio-economic development in the first nine months of 2012 and further challenges.
"Financial stability continued in the banking sector in 2012," he said. "The level of bank capitalisation is high. There are sufficient reserves against risks. This year the capital of banks increased by 18 per cent and by 49 per cent over the past four years. The bank assets increased by 11 per cent in 2012 and by 51 per cent over the past four years. The ratio of bank assets to non-oil GDP is 65 per cent. Bank loans increased 12 per cent in 2012 and by 55 per cent over the past four years. About 72 per cent of loans are long term investment oriented."
He said that the population's urgent deposits increased this year by more than eight per cent. Their volume increased 2.3 times after the global economic crisis.
"The share of external debt in financing the bank assets has dropped from 20 to 13 per cent for the last four years," he said. "Liquid assets exceed liabilities on external debt by more than 100 per cent."
Stable and reliable activity of payment systems was ensured in 2012. Payments increased 16 per cent to 85 billion manat through the national payment system in the first nine months of 2012.
"This year we are witnessing the development of the securities market in the country which grew by 34 per cent," he said. "The shares' market increased 3.3 times."