World Bank ready to support reforms in Azerbaijan’s banking sector: Sarah Michael 

“I think the national currency of Azerbaijan has been very stable and that is very notable given the turmoil of the last year, the World Bank’s Country Manager for Azerbaijan Sarah Michael told Report.

According to her, the Bank is ready to support reforms in Azerbaijan: “I know that this is an area where credit has shrunk over the last year, and the government is doing a lot to address issues around the non-performing loans, challenges to deposits. I think the government is taking the right steps to strengthen the banking sector. We do monthly economic updates that included a short assessment of the banking sectors. The government’s highlighted some of the reforms it wants to make in the banking sector. It’s an area where we are ready to support and continue to do some analyses. We are also doing work with the government at their request with our IMF colleagues on the Financial Sector Assessment Program, which will also look at some aspects of the banking sector. So, this might also be a resource for government in tackling some of the issues in the banking sector,” she said.

Azerbaijan has been in cooperation with the World Bank since 1992. The Bank has allocated about $4 billion for Azerbaijan on more than 50 projects.