Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:
Reduction of the interest rate of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) in the near future will not have a tangible impact on interest rates of bank loans, Zakir Nuriyev, head of the Azerbaijan Banks Association, told Trend on March 29.
"There is no direct connection between the Central Bank's interest rate and the rates on bank loans in Azerbaijan. This is linked with the fact that the financial resources of commercial banks are limited, but it is impossible to say exactly how the situation will change. Nevertheless, in the long term, the decision of the regulator will definitely affect the interest rates on loans, "Nuriyev said.
In February, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan decided to reduce the interest rate from 15 to 13 percent.
The CBA Board also decided to lower the lower limit of the interest corridor from 10 to 8 percent, and the upper limit from 18 to 16 percent.
The decision to reduce the parameters of the interest corridor, according to CBA Chairman Elman Rustamov, was made taking into account the entry of average annual inflation into an unambiguous trajectory, forecasts over further reduction of inflation and improvement of the foreign trade balance.