Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 5
By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:
The activities of non-bank credit organizations (NBCOs) began to revive, Chairman of the Board of Directors Azerbaijan Microfinance Association (AMFA) Jalal Aliyev told Trend.
Aliyev said that credit organizations began to carry out activities related to lending in foreign currency since April 2019, adding that restructuring lists were completed by the end of May 2019, and restructuring of loans began in most organizations in of June 2020.
“First of all, the decree of Azerbaijan’s president provided banks and NBCOs with the opportunity to return their toxic assets. As a result of this process, liquidity of financial institutions was created, and they began to refinance,” the chairman noted.
Aliyev also noted that financial stability that appeared after the devaluation of manat, allowed the NBCOs to develop and implement strategic plans for the next few years.
Non-bank credit organizations, which were forced to close their branches in 2015 and 2016, are now expanding their branch network in the regions, offering products and services for lending to micro and small businesses.
In 2019, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on additional measures in connection with the solution of the problem of non-performing loans to individuals.
The decree provides for the payment of compensation to citizens whose credit burden increased as a result of the devaluation of the manat in February and December 2015. The decree also creates opportunities for restructuring on concessional terms of both dollar and manat loans that are past due for more than 360 days.