Azerbaijan, Baku, September 20 /Trend, A. Akhudov/
Azerbaijani Demir Bank JSC plans to expand its branch network in the medium term, Deputy Head of the Bank Rauf Akhundov told Trend on Friday.
According to him, the bank will start to operate in Khirdalan . In addition, it is planned to open three or five branches in the country's regions in the next three years. Currently, 32 branches of the bank are in operation, about 13 of which are in Baku and 19 in the regions.
"We plan to go out of the cities to rural areas, as we actively work with agriculture. Our micro-crediting portfolio has increased from 13 million to 60 million manat in four years. The average volume of loans which are given to enterprises in rural areas amounts to 2,300 manat," Akhundov said.
The first commercial bank of Azerbaijan, Demir Bank began its operations in October 1989. Shareholders of the Bank include large international financial institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO). DemirBank has a "B" rating with a "stable" forecast from Fitch Ratings and Planet Rating.
The official exchange rate on September 20 is 0.7844 AZN/USD