BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 17. The Central Bank of Azerbaijan and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) discussed the establishment of a local credit agency, Trend reports referring to the Baku Stock Exchange.
The discussion took place as part of the meeting of representatives of the two banks.
The sides reviewed the active involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the organized capital market, prospects for the primary and secondary markets, as well as future work in this area, to assess the SME financial risks regarding the creation of a local credit agency, which is being worked on by the Central Bank and EBRD.
The loan portfolio of the EBRD projects in Azerbaijan was estimated at 843 million euros as of December 31, 2022.
EBRD Country Head for Azerbaijan Kamola Makhmudova has earlier said that the anticipated portfolio of investment projects for the next three years is $750 million. The EBRD plans to allocate nearly $300 million in energy, transport, the private sector, SMEs, and the banking sector, in 2023.