Finance

Home page

Finance

Fitch Ratings: Azerbaijan's banks are less likely to place Euroband debt this year

07 March 2025 16:28 (UTC +04:00)

"Banks in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are less likely to place Eurobond debt this year," this was stated in the forecast of the international rating agency Fitch Ratings, APA-Economics reports.

Fitch Ratings said that the largest banks in Azerbaijan and Armenia have limited incentive to issue given their comfortable liquidity positions: "International Bank of Azerbaijan had a particularly low loans/deposits ratio of 62% and a low blended funding cost of 1.9% at end-1H24. Armenia’s Ardshinbank’s loans/deposits ratio benefitted significantly from large deposit inflows in 2022, mainly from Russia, with the ratio almost halving to 77% at end-2024 (end-2021: 141%).

Georgian issuers TBC Bank and Bank of Georgia may face less favourable investor sentiment due to political risks, which are reflected in the Negative Outlook on Georgia’s ‘BB’ sovereign rating, notwithstanding the banks’ largely solid and resilient performances."

Fitch considers that CIS+ banks’ 2025 Eurobond debt issuance could approach the record levels of 2024, spurred by refinancing needs, favourable economic conditions and positive investor sentiment.

"We expect banks in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to lead by volume. However, geopolitical risks can affect this," Fitch added