BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 24. The governor of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, Taleh Kazimov, met with representatives of the Azerbaijan Fashion Retailers Association (AFRA) and discussed the availability of financial services and the development of cashless payments, Trend reports via CBA.
Meanwhile, it is noted that the meeting discussed issues included in the association's agenda concerning financial services, banking operations, and payment mechanisms.
“The meeting also provided information on the initiatives being implemented by the Central Bank aimed at improving the accessibility of financial services for businesses and increasing the efficiency of non-cash payment services,” the information said.
As of January 1 of this year, business loans accounted for 53.6% (16.1 billion manat ($9.4 billion)) of the loan portfolio of Azerbaijani banks.
This is 301.5 million manat ($177.3 million) or 1.9% more than the previous month and 1.3 billion manat ($760 million) or 8.9% more than the same period last year.
Over the reporting period, the volume of loans issued to large businesses amounted to 8.5 billion manat ($5 billion), which is 78.3 million manat ($46.05 million) or 2.2% more than the previous month and 252.9 million manat ($148.7 million) or 3% more than the same period last year.
In addition, as of January 1 of this year, microenterprises were granted business loans totaling 3.5 billion manat ($2.06 billion). This is 40.3 million manat ($23.7 million), or 1.1%, more than the previous month and 452.8 million manat ($266.3 million), or 14.6%, more than the same period last year.
As of January 1 of this year, medium-sized enterprises were granted 2.2 billion manat ($1.2 billion) in loans. This is 9.8 million manat ($5.7 million) or 0.4% more than the previous month and 455 million manat ($267.6 million) or 24.8% more than the same period last year.
In addition, as of January 1, 2026, the volume of business loans issued to small businesses amounted to 1.7 billion manat ($1 billion), which means an increase of 64.9 million manat ($38.1 million), or 3.9% in monthly terms, and 158.3 million manat ($93.1 million), or 10.2% in annual terms.
