11:26 - 11.07.2025

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July 11, Fineko/abc.az. "Banks make up the majority of the financial sector, but the need for products to support small business development is growing," ABC.AZ reports, referring to the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

95% of the financial sector in Azerbaijan accounted for banking assets. And 70% of those assets are formed by four large banks, the largest of which is the state bank.

The ADB stressed that although most of the loans given by banks to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) have been secured, there is shortage of dynamic financial products in the domestic and international markets that could support expansion of SMEs. As a result, the share of SMEs in country's GDP in 2023 was only 18%.

ADB poorly assesses development of the capital market and positively assesses development of the insurance market: "The level of development of the capital market is also poorly assessed. As of the end of 2023, the ratio of stock market capitalization to GDP was 4%. Azerbaijan's insurance sector is growing. As of the end of 2023, the market assets amounted to approx. $1 billion. And this is equal to 1.5% of GDP. In the insurance sector, life insurance products form the main market share."