BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 22. S&P international rating agency has revised the outlook on the Entrepreneurship Development Fund of Azerbaijan to "positive" from "stable", Trend reports.
According to S&P, the ratings are based on the agency's view of the fund's important role in channeling state financing at subsidized rates to entrepreneurs through commercial banks, lack of debt and strong capitalization.
"They also reflect the concentration of its business in the Azerbaijani banking sector, as well as the high proportion of non-performing loans. The positive outlook reflects our expectation that the fund's creditworthiness could improve if it significantly reduces its portfolio of problem loans, and we see no signs of significant deterioration in the asset quality of the portfolio over the next 12 months. We may upgrade the fund's rating over the next 12 months if it cleans up its loan portfolio of problem loans and the asset quality of loans originated over the past few years remains comparable to peers with an adequate risk position," the agency said.
S&P Global Ratings assigned short-term and long-term ratings of "BB-/B" to the Entrepreneurship Development Fund of Azerbaijan in November 2022.