Baku, Azerbaijan, May 23
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Azerbaijan’s microfinance organizations need new opportunities to create new financial instruments and attract financing, Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association (AMFA) Zhala Hajiyeva told Trend May 23.
She said that these opportunities depend on changes in the current legislation, which is already outdated.
“We continue our negotiations and research on attracting new financial instruments, since everything depends on the legal framework,” she noted. “Today our legislation doesn’t give us the opportunity to create new financial instruments. Therefore, we closely cooperate with Azerbaijan’s Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA) and the country’s Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication.”
“There are no results so far, but both state structures are interested in this issue, and considering this, I think that in the near future we will create a certain platform or a model that will be favorable for the financial sector, economic policy of the state and the execution of strategic roadmaps,” she added.
She said that changes in the legislation can also allow microfinance organizations of Azerbaijan to solve their problems.
“This includes attracting investors and creating a specific business strategy,” she noted. “Presently, some companies are looking for investors to sell their business. Though the situation with problem loans is stabilizing and their growth has stopped, and even the decrease in problem loans is observed in some organizations, not all companies were able to cope with the problems. New rules and framework will allow us to improve our activity.”
More than 150 non-bank credit organizations operate in Azerbaijan. As of April 1, 2018, their aggregate loan portfolio amounted to 413.9 million manats, according to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.
(1.7 manats = 1 USD on May 23)
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