Azerbaijan, Baku, April 30 / Trend N. Ismayilova /
The total number of credit institutions operating in the country based on the authorization of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan increased by three and hit 145 in the first quarter of 2010, the bank said.
As of April 1, 98 non-bank credit institutions operate in Azerbaijan compared to 96 in late 2009. The number of non-banking credit organizations, funded by international humanitarian organizations, has remained unchanged. There are 18 organizations.
During the reporting period, about 47 banks got licenses to conduct banking activities in the territory of the Republic. Their number has increased as a result of the issuance of licenses by the Central Bank in late March to another bank with the Azerbaijani capital - BTB Bank.
The bank said that at present, there are two banks are in the process of liquidation. Last year, there were no quantitative changes on the country's banking market. The number of banks decreased by two as a result of revocation of licenses of two banks in 2008 - Poctbank and Atlantbank. Permissions for banking activities were given to Nahchivanbank and Azfinans Bank.
There are 23 banks with foreign capital in the country, as a year earlier. The share of foreign capital in seven of them is formed in the range from 50 to 100 percent, in 14 banks - up to 50 percent. Two local branches of foreign banks also operate.
The number of banks' departments operating abroad is nine, including six offices, two subsidiaries and one branch. There are also four representative offices of foreign banks in Azerbaijan.
The number of branches of local banks amounted to 631 compared to 626 in late 2009. The only semi-Bank has 38 branches (their number remained unchanged last year). Accordingly, the remaining 593 branches are established by private commercial banks, increased by 5 offices during the first quarter and 46 - during the year.
On April 30, the official exchange rate is 0.8033 manat to $1.