Baku, Azerbaijan, April 28
By Zeyni Jafarov - Trend:
While covering a significant part of the Azerbaijani districts, the share of loans issued to the groups of borrowers as of early 2021 averages 12.5 percent of the total loan portfolio, Arif Aliyev, Chairman of the Board of the Credit Implementation Agency non-banking credit organization, told Trend on April 28.
"The lending system for this group was first introduced by the Credit Implementation Agency within the World Bank project, and later within the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) project," Aliyev said.
"The main essence of this lending is that the members of the group are both borrowers and guarantors of each other, thereby creating favorable conditions for the formation of a potentially interested group," chairman of board added.
Aliyev stressed that many credit institutions, proceeding from their internal capabilities and upon the direct instructions of the regulator - the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, provided their clients, including small and medium-sized businesses, with certain benefits and deferred payments last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"So, this process has been launched at the Credit Implementation Agency since the first quarter of 2020," chairman of board added.
Despite difficult 2020, the agency had profit.
"At the moment, an annual audit is being carried out and after its completion, it will be possible to outline the indicators of 2020," Arif Aliyev said.
"In conclusion, being a member of the Azerbaijan Micro-finance Association, the Credit Implementation Agency is currently participating in the discussions on the creation and further development of e-platforms for the non-banking organizations," Aliyev said.
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