Azerbaijan appoints banker Kazimov as new central bank governor

April 13 (Reuters) – Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on Wednesday appointed Taleh Kazimov, chairman of the privately owned PASHA Financial institution, to be the brand new governor of the central financial institution because the vitality wealthy ex-Soviet state faces mounting inflationary pressures.

Kazimov’s appointment comes a day after lawmakers voted to dismiss Elman Rustamov, 69, who had been in control of the central financial institution of Azerbaijan, the third largest ex-Soviet oil producer after Russia and Kazakhstan, since 1995.

The assertion on the central financial institution’s web site saying Kazimov’s appointment on Wednesday didn’t present causes for the change of governor, citing solely Aliyev’s order.

Rustamov, who began work as an economist within the later years of the Soviet Union, steered the central financial institution by way of a lot of crises, together with a devaluation of the manat forex in 2015 triggered by a drop within the international vitality costs.

He launched a floating manat forex regime to attempt to protect overseas alternate reserves, after an identical transfer by the Russian central financial institution amid western sanctions placed on Moscow after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Rustamov additionally oversaw a $3 billion debt restructuring of Azerbaijan’s high lender, the Worldwide Financial institution of Azerbaijan (IBA), with a majority of liabilities owned by overseas traders, after an oil value hunch left it with unhealthy loans.

Final month, the Azeri central financial institution raised its refinancing fee by 0.25 proportion factors to 7.75%, and analysts anticipate a a lot sharper key fee hike at its board assembly on April 29, the identical day because the Russian central financial institution meets.

Citing annual March inflation at 12.1%, properly above the central financial institution’s goal hall of 4% with a 2 proportion level deviation, Gazprombank analysts stated in a be aware they anticipated a key fee hike of at least 100 foundation factors.

Reporting by Reuters; Enhancing by Alexander Smith

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