Azerbaijan plans to issue a US$ 1.0bn bond
Depending on market conditions, the state-owned Southern Gas Corridor Company plans to raise US$ 1.0bn in bond financing for its flagship project to deliver natural gas to Europe. In this regard, the government commenced a series of roadshows on March 10, 2016.
Deposit dollarization reached 82.5% in January 2016
Total deposits in Azerbaijan decreased 3.6% m/m to AZN 22.6bn (US$ 14.1bn), as deposits fell in both AZN and FX terms (-6.8% m/m and -2.9% m/m, respectively). In FX deposit structure, households’ time deposits and non-financial entities’ demand deposits led the decline, while time deposits of financial entities were up. As the fall in AZN deposits was more pronounced, deposit dollarization inched up 0.6 ppts m/m to 82.5% (+31.0 ppts y/y).
NPL down 0.7 ppts m/m to 6.2% in January 2016
The banking sector loan portfolio contracted 2.4% m/m (+14.0% y/y) to AZN 21.2bn (US$ 13.2bn), on the back of reduced lending to households and trade and services sector, while a positive contribution came from a AZN 312.2mn increase in the letter of credit portfolio. State banks increased their loan portfolio by AZN 417.7mn m/m (+5.7% m/m), while the loan portfolio of private banks fell by AZN 979.1mn m/m (-7.1% m/m).
Overdue loans decreased 12.9% m/m to AZN 1.3bn, driven by an improvement in AZN loan repayments. As a result, the NPL ratio fell 0.7 ppts m/m to 6.2%.
US$ 168.1mn sold at FX auctions
The State Oil Fund sold US$ 168.1mn (-35.3% w/w) in three FX auctions last week.
