Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 28 /Trend, A.Akhundov/
Agricultural banks are expected to be established in Azerbaijan in 2012-2015 in Azerbaijan, this is stated in the draft concept of socio-economic development for 2012 and next three years, presented for consideration to the Parliament of Azerbaijan.
"To meet the financial needs of entrepreneurs engaged in agriculture, it is expected to create and develop financial and credit institutions in rural areas (establishment of agricultural banks)," said in the draft.
Needs of agriculture for the financial resource in Azerbaijan today exceeds one billion manat, the chairman of non-banking credit organization (NBCO) 'Aqrarkredit' Mammad Musayev said earlier.
"In 2011, Aqrarkredit will continue to adhere to a strategy to transform into in a bank. Today, on the Azerbaijani market there is a need for a large banking institution financing the agricultural sector, with a solid capital base. This financial structure could be both Aqrarkredit and other organizations, but the steps in this regard will certainly be taken," said Musayev.
Having a specialized agricultural bank encourages the development of non-oil sector, board member of the AqrarKredit state non-banking credit organization Suleyman Kalyashov told Trend earlier.
Today, the share of agriculture in GDP is 5.2 percent, and increasing lending in this sphere will grow its share in GDP," said Kalyashov.
According to the Central Bank, the total loan portfolio of the banking sector was 9.2 billion manat, where the share of agricultural sector accounts for only about 500 million manat (5.4 percent).
"Creating a specialized bank in the country is also necessary due to the fact that agriculture is a specific area and the commercial banks do not specialize in this sector, which requires a special approach to lending," he said.
The main shareholder of Agrarkredit is the Finance Ministry of Azerbaijan, which owns 99.9 percent of shares in the credit organization and the rest is divided equally between Azersigorta State Insurance Company and Irrigation and Water Management JSC.
The official exchange rate is 0.7869 manat to $1 on Oct. 27.
