Online payments to be carried out faster in Azerbaijan
The Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) has started to create an Instant Payment System, the CBA said in a message Feb. 1.
According to the message, international experience has already been studied.
Initial studies have been carried out to create an Instant Payment System and requirements for integration into the existing payment ecosystem have been defined.
"International experience shows that Instant Payment System is used to ensure round-the-clock operation of payment systems," the message said. "This kind of system allows reducing the time of settlement transactions between those who pay and those who receive money to 5-10 seconds."
According to the message, similar systems are already used in UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, South Korea and other countries.
To create the system, detailed discussions were held at the Azerbaijan Banks Association Feb. 1. Opinions and proposals of the heads of local banks were heard.
Azerbaijan to present project proposals to European Commission to get financing
The European Commission has allocated six million euros for the implementation of projects as part of the "Harmonizing Digital Markets of EU and Eastern Partnership Countries - HDM Initiative" in 2018-2020, Tofig Babayev, director of the Regional Information Technologies Academy (RITA), told Trend.
Babayev said that Azerbaijan has prepared a number of project proposals in line with the requirements of the HDM Initiative, which will be submitted to the European Commission for financing. Projects have been prepared in such areas of the HDM Initiative as e-customs, e-commerce, e-business, e-security, e-health and e-trade.
"The European Commission will announce specific conditions, after which the acceptance of applications will begin," he noted.
The HDM Initiative is aimed at addressing important issues on formation of legal basis, improving customs procedures and implementation of software for trading. It envisages the creation of a single digital zone, which provides entrepreneurs with a single field in order to conduct trade operations and mutual settlements.
Fitch discloses forecast for Azerbaijani manat rate
Fitch Ratings expects the rate of Azerbaijan's national currency against the US dollar to remain at 1.7 manats within the next two years.
"In the context of gradually recovering oil prices and tight monetary and fiscal policies, the exchange rate has been stable since April 2017 at around 1.7 manats to the US dollar," Fitch said. "This has in turn helped ease pressure on inflation."
In 2017, the official exchange rate of Azerbaijani manat against the US dollar, set by the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA), increased by 0.0706 manats or 3.9871 percent.
Accordingly, the average rate was set at 1.7205 AZN/USD in 2017.
Since Dec. 13, 2017, the official exchange rate of Azerbaijani manat against the US dollar is 1.7001 AZN/USD.
Standard & Poor's Global Ratings Agency also predicts that the rate of manat against the US dollar will be 1.7 manats in 2018.
Minister talks European investments in Azerbaijani economy
Countries of the European Union (EU) have invested about $15 billion in the Azerbaijani economy since 2012, said Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev at a meeting with European Commission Director General for Mobility and Transport Henrik Hololei in Baku.
More than 40 percent of Azerbaijan's trade turnover account for the EU countries, said the minister.
Meanwhile, more than 1,400 European companies operate in Azerbaijan, he added.
Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan signed an agreement on elimination of double taxation with 24 EU member states, and signed documents on the promotion of investments and their mutual protection with 17 countries, a declaration on strategic partnership with nine countries, and there are joint intergovernmental commissions with 16 EU member states.
The minister emphasized that Azerbaijan and the EU cooperate successfully in the sphere of energy, and in this regard, the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project is of great importance.
He also noted that Azerbaijan is interested in expanding the cooperation with the EU in transportation field.
According to Azerbaijan's State Customs Committee, trade turnover with the EU countries amounted to $9.4 billion in 2017 that is by 52.35 percent more than in 2016.
Azerbaijan exported goods worth $7.45 billion to the EU countries in 2017.
BTK railway to be used for tourism purposes as well, Azerbaijan says
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will be used for tourist purposes as well, Vugar Shikhammadov, head of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, told Trend Jan. 31.
He said that the rail transport is one of the long-used modes of transport.
"One will be able to travel to all districts of Azerbaijan by using this transport," he noted. "Rail transport is used in domestic tourism, particularly on holidays."
Shikhammadov stressed that in domestic tourism, a sufficient number of people use trains.
"Regarding international transport, we think that after the operation of the BTK railway starts, tourism experts will think about this, considering international experience," he said. "This route will be beneficial both for local citizens traveling abroad and for tourists coming to Azerbaijan."
He added that the choice of a convenient mode of transport will depend on tourists.
"Some people choose air transport or private car, and some prefer train, because usually railway trips are implemented in the mornings or in the evenings, and this is also convenient for tourists," Shikhammadov said.
The official opening ceremony of the BTK railway was held in Baku Oct. 30, 2017. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The railway's peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
Fitch: Azerbaijani banks to start to restore lending volumes
Fitch Ratings expects credit growth to start recovering in 2018.
Dollarization of loans and deposits is slowly declining, also reflecting some improved confidence in the currency, Fitch said.
The restructuring of the country's largest bank, International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) has neared completion. The next steps will involve the closing of a significant net open FX position and privatization of the bank.
The IBA is at the stage of recovery since July 2015, which is related to the preparation for the privatization of the bank's state-owned shares.
In July 2017, creditors of the IBA adopted a plan of voluntary restructuring of the bank's foreign liabilities.
As a result of the restructuring, the bank exchanged foreign currency liabilities of about $3.34 billion for new bonds of the bank and the state.
