BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 5. Azerbaijan's Central Bank has noted improvement in the country's banking sector's ability to generate profit in the first half of 2023, Trend reports.
The financial stability report published by the bank says the total profit of the banking sector amounted to 563 million manat ($331.1 million), which is 40 percent more year-on-year (162 million manat, which is $95.2 million).
Return on assets (ROA) rose to 2.5 percent, the highest since the pandemic (ROA was 2.4 percent in the first half of 2020).
The Central Bank's data shows that 22 banks managed to make a profit of 580 million manat ($341.1 million) from January through June 2023.
The Central Bank's analysis indicates that the main driver behind the increase in the sector's net profit is the growth in banks' net interest income, which increased by 32 percent or 296 million manat ($174.1 million) year-on-year.
In addition, banks decreased spending on targeted reserves by 37 percent or 46 million manat ($27 million) and increased non-interest income by 12 percent or 64 million manat ($37.6 million), which contributed to the acceleration of profit margin growth.
