Baku, Azerbaijan, March 1
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Fitch Ratings expects the growth of the aggregate loan portfolio of Azerbaijani banks in 2018, banking sector expert Ruslan Bulatov said in an annual meeting of Fitch Ratings in Baku on March 1.
"We believe the restructuring of the International Bank of Azerbaijan in 2018 will have significantly less impact on the loan portfolio of the banking sector, and by the end of the year it [the portfolio] will grow, albeit insignificantly," Bulatov said.
Bulatov added that the growth will be achieved by increasing the loan portfolios of three or four banks with the most stable position in Azerbaijan’s banking sector.
According to Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA), the aggregate loan portfolio of Azerbaijan’s banks amounted to 11.34 billion manats, having decreased by 28.5 percent compared to 2016.
The share of overdue loans in the loan portfolio of banks and non-banking credit organizations was 13.8 percent.
Thirty banks operate in Azerbaijan.
(1.7001 manats = $1 on March 1)