BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 2. Business loans in Azerbaijan reached 16.313 billion manats ($9.6 billion) as of May 1, accounting for 53.3% of the country’s total banking loan portfolio.
Data obtained by Trend from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) shows that the figure rose by 97.8 million manats ($57.5 million), or 0.6%, from the previous month and increased by 1.4 billion manats ($824 million), or 9.1%, compared with the same period last.
Loans issued to large businesses totaled 8.461 billion manats ($5 billion), down 53.6 million manats ($31.5 million), or 0.6%, from the previous month, but up 61.6 million manats ($36.2 million), or 0.7%, from the same period last year.
Medium-sized enterprises received 2.308 billion manats ($1.36 billion) in loans, marking an increase of 15.6 million manats ($9.2 million), or 0.7%, month-on-month, and 404.4 million manats ($238 million), or 21.2%, year-on-year.
Loans to small businesses rose to 1.784 billion manats ($1.05 billion), up 51.7 million manats ($30.4 million), or 3%, from April and 267.5 million manats ($157 million), or 17.6%, compared with a year earlier.
Micro-businesses posted the strongest growth. Loans extended to the segment reached 3.760 billion manats ($2.21 billion), increasing by 84.1 million manats ($49.5 million), or 2.3%, month-on-month, and by 626.4 million manats ($368.5 million), or 20%, year-on-year.
Overall, Azerbaijan’s banking sector loan portfolio stood at 30.609 billion manats ($18 billion) as of May 1. Business loans represented 53.3% of the total portfolio, while consumer loans accounted for 31.5% (9.629 billion manats, or $5.66 billion) and mortgage loans made up 15.2% (4.667 billion manats, or $2.75 billion).
