BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 26. Last week, the capital of Azerbaijan Railways OJSC increased more than twofold, reaching 1.99 billion manat ($1.17 billion).
Data obtained by Trend indicates that the Asian Development Bank (ADB) granted a loan of $1.25 billion ($735.2 million) to the OJSC for its decarbonization project.
Additionally, the number of POS terminals in Karabakh and East Zangezur has sharply increased to 3,646 units, with Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (3,017 units) and the Mil-Mugan economic region (2,726 units) seeing similar growth in their POS infrastructure.
Further advancements include the launch of the "Electronic Application System" by the National Depository Center, a key step toward streamlining financial operations and increasing digital access for citizens.
On the agricultural front, 19.6 million manat ($11.5 million) was allocated in subsidized loans to those working in the sector this year. Last year, the government also purchased essential food products valued at 127 million manat ($74.7 million).
Distribution of investments in the country's economy by sector for the first quarter:
From January to March of this year, investments directed toward fixed capital in Azerbaijan's construction sector totaled 900.5 million manat ($529.7 million). The transport sector received investments worth 659.4 million manat ($387.8 million), while the education sector saw investments amounting to 49.5 million manat ($29.1 million). The industrial sector attracted 1.6 billion manat ($941.1 million) in fixed capital investments, and the information and communications sector received 77.1 million manat ($45.3 million) in investments.
Budget Revenues:
The State Service for Property Issues revealed that from January through March 2025, privatization and leasing activities contributed over 50.7 million manat ($29.8 million) to the state budget, while customs revenues amounted to 1.43 billion manat ($841.1 million).
In the banking sector, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) aims to bring the individual investment amount in the capital market to 1 billion manat ($588.2 million) by 2026. The insurance sector has also set ambitious targets, forecasting an increase in insurance premiums to reach 195 manat ($114.7) per capita by 2026. Additionally, the total value of business loans in the banking sector is expected to grow to 16.5 billion manat ($9.70 billion) within the same timeframe.
Last year, 86.2 percent of the planned actions within the insurance sector strategy were successfully implemented, with 13.8 percent delayed. In the capital markets, 69.4 percent of the planned activities were completed, while the payment sector saw an implementation rate of 88 percent. Digital finance initiatives under the strategy had an implementation rate of 88.9 percent, and sustainable finance initiatives were 76.9 percent implemented, with 23.1 percent of actions delayed.
The Chairman of the CBA noted that, when looking at the figures for 2024 and the past three years, the banking sector's loan portfolio has grown by more than 15 percent.
In line with the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), the discount rate remains unchanged at 7.25 percent, with the lower limit of the interest rate corridor at 6.25 percent and the upper limit at 8.25 percent.
The CBA has revoked the license of "Premier Credit" NBC and issued a formal warning to "CFI Financial Investment Company."
Elnur Aliyev, the First Deputy Minister of Economy, highlighted that the total value of investment projects signed with Chinese companies during a visit to China, organized with the support of the Ministry of Economy, is approximately $335 million.
Data obtained from last week shows that Azerbaijan's insurance market saw a growth of 7 percent in the first quarter.
