Azerbaijan-Central Asia Financial Markets Infrastructure Advisory Services Project (ACAFI) official Teymur Geybatov announced that Azerbaijan’s Central Bank has accepted the ACAFI’s business-plan to open the country’s first credit bureau, calling it “the cornerstones of a sound financial system.”
“According to our business plan, capital accumulation should be completed within 9 months” – said Geybatov, who added that US$1 million is needed to provide the bureau with the required software.
The International Finance Corporation estimates that the first independent credit bureau may appear in Azerbaijan 2 years after the related bill has been accepted.
The present Central Credits Register, which is controlled by the country’s central bank, offers credit information which is more individuals-orientated than firms. Credit information is very general, only dividing debtors into positive and negative.
Moreover, Azerbaijan might also accept a law on credit stories, a government official said to the local media.
Both laws are due to help financial institutions make faster and more accurate credit decisions, thereby increasing the availability and affordability of the financial services provided to the country’s individual consumers, and also micro, small, and medium enterprises.
Azerbaijan joined the IFC in 1995. As of December 2008, the IFC committed nearly US$289 million via its own fund, while gathering nearly US$104 million through syndications. IFC’s investments in Azerbaijan were mainly in oil and gas, financial, general manufacturing, and agribusiness sectors.