Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 28

By Azad Hasanli – Trend:

The Azerbaijani Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund (MCGF) plans to issue up to 200 million manat guarantees for small and medium sized enterprises over the medium term, Fitch Ratings said in a report.

Fitch Ratings has revised MCGF outlook to Stable from Negative, while affirming the Fund's Long-Term Foreign and Local Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) at 'BB+'.

Those funds will be backed up by 100 million manat equity injections from the state budget. Interest rate subsidies will be fully funded by state transfers (2018: 40 million manats).

The fund's cash, bank placements and investment in government securities totaled 252 million manats at end-2017.

Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund CJSC was established on December 25, 2017 by merger of the Azerbaijan Mortgage Fund and the Credit Guarantee Fund.

The Fund’s major objective is to create a mechanism of providing the population with living space through long-term mortgage lending, assist in attracting local and foreign financial resources for mortgage lending, as well as provide guarantees to entrepreneurs for manat loans taken from authorized banks, and grant subsidies for a part of the interest calculated on these loans.