Finance Minister: Development of Middle Corridor requires raising funds from IFIs

The development of the Middle Corridor requires large funds, therefore preference is given to international financial institutions and structures, such as the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, European Development Bank, etc, Finance Minister of Azerbaijan Samir Sharifov told reporters in Tbilisi at the 57th annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Report informs.

“Involving the private sector in the development of the Middle Corridor is possible; the private sector finances such projects, but they require quite a lot of funds. At the current stage, we are talking more about large-scale infrastructure projects. This is the construction of railway and road communications, that is, a fairly serious physical infrastructure,” said the Minister of Finance.

“The repayment period in this kind of projects is quite long, which means that private financing in these conditions seems somewhat expensive,” Sharifov noted.

“Therefore, preference is given to other sources of financing, mainly international financial institutions. From these financial institutions, you can raise funds for longer periods and at lower rates,” added the Azerbaijani Finance Minister. “These are the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the EBRD, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, various development funds in some Arab countries, and so on.”

According to him, the state is developing a targeted long-term strategy to return these funds.