President Ilham Aliyev: "If there are problems with these banks, the license will be canceled"
  • POLITICS

  • 11:54 07 February 2020

President Ilham Aliyev: "If there are problems with these banks, the license will be canceled"

"The recovery process in the banking sector is ongoing and should be continued. We have provided banks with tremendous support. All deposits are insured and we have extended this process. I believe and am absolutely sure that the crisis period is already in the past. However, in order t enhance public confidence in banks, the state is taking on this issue again. Azerbaijan is one of a handful of countries where all bank deposits are insured by the state. This is a great support given to banks, a privilege provided to them. At the same time, this increases their responsibility. If banks, private banks come up with some sort of surprise, they will only have themselves to blame. As part of the new powers granted to the Central Bank, stronger control is needed to ensure that the healing process is completed successfully,"President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in his speech at the conference dedicated to the results of first-year implementation of "The State Program on socio-economic development of the regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2019-2023" held on February 2020, ONA reports.

According to the head of state, as the economy grows and the economic situation improves, the discount rate also decreases. "It has decreased this year as well, amounting to just over 7 percent. Of course, private banks should also lower their interest rates, because the Central Bank has already made a decision and discount rates were reduced last year and this year. This process continues.

In general, private banks should give an impetus to our economic development. They should not be engaged in making money only. They should be aware of their responsibility. The state provided them with the opportunity to operate, issued a license. If there are problems with these banks, the license will be canceled. Licenses of many banks have recently been revoked. They will be deprived of these opportunities. Therefore, they must be responsible. There should be no surprises. They should give preference to business loans. I said this at a meeting on the results of last year. The same trend is observed evident. Preference is being given to consumer loans. Of course, this is very easy. They provide a consumer loan and then receive interest. But bank loans are needed for the country's economy, for the real sector, for job creation. Therefore, I am asking the Central Bank and relevant ministries again, including the Cabinet of Ministers, to take this under control and regularly inform me about the percentage of business loans and consumer loans. Monitoring should be permanent.

I want to touch upon one more issue. The property offered in districts and rural areas is often not accepted by banks as collateral. They want mortgaged property in Baku. This must be stopped. No discrimination should be allowed here. Therefore, relevant agencies need to seriously address this issue."

Faig Mahmudov

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