Baku, Azerbaijan, July 17
By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:
The Association of Microfinance of Azerbaijan (AMFA) expects tangible growth in the loan portfolio of non-bank credit organizations (NBCO) next year, the AMFA Executive Director Jalya Hajiyeva told Trend on Thursday.
“As a result of this year, we do not forecast a significant growth in the NBCO loan portfolio. Repeated financing from investors can be expected only in several credit institutions. However, we believe that the situation will change in 2019. The return of old debts takes time, but today there is a positive trend in this area. If it continues next year, we believe that investors will be interested in re-financing”,she said.
She said that at the moment, one of the objectives of the Association is to increase investor interest in the NBCO re-financing.
“Until today, we are holding negotiations with investors on this issue. In November, we plan to hold a conference with the participation of investors, representatives of the NBCO and SMEs. We hope that investors, seeing positive dynamics, will restore interest to the re-financing”, Hajiyeva said.
She noted that in this direction the Association intends to cooperate with the Agency for the Development of SMEs under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan.
“Today important steps are being taken in the country aimed at the development of SMEs. The creation of the Agency is one such step. We are going to study the possibilities of cooperation with this organization. In general, I note that interest in microfinance in Azerbaijan is great”, she added.
According to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, the credit portfolio of the NBCO in January-May 2018 amounted to 393.2 million manat (3.3 percent of the total portfolio of credit institutions).
The official rate for July 17 is 1.7 AZN/USD.
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