Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 19
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) provided Azerbaijani AccessBank with a subordinated loan worth $ 25 million to stimulate small business lending, IFC said.
IFC's support will help the bank to increase the number of micro, small and medium enterprises, served by the bank, the statement said.
"Such enterprises are the key sources of employment and innovation," the statement said.
"But they often face with a limited access to loans and other forms of financing. This support is expected to contribute to the development of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector and promote the country's sustainable development."
"We warmly welcome IFC's support which is our shareholder and a close partner," Michael Hoffmann, AccessBank General Manager, said. "The allocated funds will be delivered to the micro, small and medium businesses through an extensive network of our branches for these businesses to further stimulate the economy of Azerbaijan."
As of July 1, 2015, AccessBank's assets totaled 1.16 billion manat, of which 722 million manat - in foreign currency. The total loan portfolio exceeded 840.4 million manat, deposit portfolio - 282.6 million manat. The total capital amounts to 158.7 million manat.
AccessBank was founded in 2002 by BSTDB, EBRD, IFC, KfW, the German consulting company LFS Financial Systems (LFS) and Access Holding.
The bank concentrates on lending to small and medium businesses. It has a wide branch network through Azerbaijan and employs over 2,000 people.
Fitch upgraded AccessBank's rating up to Investment Grade "BBB-" with "Stable" outlook in 2014.
Azerbaijan has been cooperating with IFC since 1995.
IFC's portfolio on Azerbaijan exceeds $400 million, which have been allocated for the implementation of more than 70 projects.
Edited by CN
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