Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
Negotiations on the development of the so-called Baku Approach, which is designed to help reduce the problematic loans in Azerbaijan, have been resumed, a source in the financial market of the country told Trend May 22.
The source noted that bankers and representatives of the Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) will gather tomorrow after a long break.
For the first time, banks started discussing the creation of the Baku Approach at the end of last year. Market participants then decided to establish a working group, but since then there has been little progress.
"At tomorrow's meeting, the bankers will discuss the current situation with problem loans, as well as the general rules and provisions of the Collective Agreement on the Program of Restructuring of Non-Operating Assets, which is the basis of the Baku Approach," said the source.
Over the past two or three years, banks have restructured a large number of loans, but each bank has taken these measures separately, and the desired results have not been achieved across the market. The Baku Approach, in turn, provides for comprehensive measures to deal with problematic loans, including restructuring and easing credit conditions.
According to the data of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, the volume of overdue loans in the country as of April 1, 2018 amounted to 1.71 billion manats, which is 7.5 percent more than in the same period last year.
The share of overdue loans in the banks' total loan portfolio increased from 10.2 to 14.6 percent over the period.
There are 30 banks in Azerbaijan.
(1.7 AZN = 1 USD on May 22)
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