Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 17
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is concerned about the capitalization of the International Bank of Azerbaijan without its restructuring, the head of IMF mission to Azerbaijan Raja Al Marzouqi said at a press conference in Baku on Nov.15.
"We recommend the Azerbaijani government to reconstruct and enlarge the bank by creating an adequate and healthy business model," the head of IMF mission said.
According to Marzouqi, in the current "unhealthy" situation [the merger of the bank without restructuring] the privatization of the bank is impossible.
"Taking into consideration that the bank holds a significant share in the country's banking market, if any problems emerge in it, this can have an impact on the whole financial system of Azerbaijan," Al Marzouqi said.
In October the shareholders of the International Bank of Azerbaijan adopted a conception for increasing the authorized capital by 500 million manat in four years. In the initial stage, the bank's authorized capital will increase by 200 million manat and in the subsequent stages it will increase by 100 million manat per year. To date, the authorized capital of the International Bank of Azerbaijan is 368 million manat.
The International Bank of Azerbaijan was founded in January 1992 and is the largest in the country. The bank's main shareholder is the Azerbaijani government which owns a 50.2 per cent share with a 49.8 per cent of share owned by private individuals and legal entities.
The official exchange rate on Nov.17 is 0.7844 AZN/USD.
