Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2
By Sara Israfilbayova – Trend:
President Ilham Aliyev's decree on additional measures for addressing issues of problem loans of natural persons in Azerbaijan testifies to the attention paid by the head of state to small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, Jala Hajiyeva, executive director of the Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA), told Trend.
This decree encourages non-bank credit organizations (NBCOs) and will help NBCOs function more efficiently and responsibly.
The executive director noted, taking into account the fact that NBCOs are organizations operating mainly in rural areas, this will also give impetus to the development of small and medium-sized businesses in villages.
Hajiyeva believes that, thanks to this decree, it will be possible to increase the flow of foreign investment in the country.
"This will also give impetus to the re-financing of NBCOs. The main task here is to increase employment, as well as to ensure the issuance of new loans," she said.
The executive director also said that further steps and executive mechanisms resulting from this decree will be discussed with the Financial Market Supervisory Authority.
The decree provides for the payment of compensation to citizens whose loan burden increased due to the devaluation of the Azerbaijani manat in February and December 2015. The decree also creates opportunities for the restructurization of both dollar and manat loans with a delay of more than 360 days.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS