Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 9
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
During 2017, Azerbaijani banks greatly increased investments in securities, said a report of the country’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
Investments worth only 414.6 million manats ($245.4 million as of Oct. 9) accounted for shares in the structure of bank assets as of early 2017, this figure reached 5.3 billion manats as of late August, according to the report.
The report doesn’t specify which securities the Azerbaijani banks invested in. Nevertheless, it can be asssumed that the banks invested a certain part of the funds in state securities of Azerbaijan.
In particular, in the first half of 2017, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) issued notes worth 776.23 million manats. Notes are one of monetary policy tools, which can only be acquired by banks.
In addition, during the same period, bonds worth 330.15 million manats of Azerbaijan’s Finance Ministry were issued. A source in the ministry told Trend Oct. 9 that banks, along with insurance companies, are the main buyers of government bonds issued by the ministry.
The source added that in some cases, individuals purchased bonds of the Finance Ministry.
There are 31 banks, including two state-owned ones, in Azerbaijan.