The balance of loans issued by credit institutions in Turkmenistan to enterprises, organizations, and citizens as of November 1, 2023, amounted to 87.3 billion Turkmen manat ($25 billion), Trend reports.
According to data from the Central Bank, these numbers indicate an 1.8-percent increase compared to the corresponding date in the previous year (which was 85.7 billion Turkmen manat or $24.53 billion).
The total amount of the loan balance issued to citizens engaged in entrepreneurial activity without the formation of a legal entity as of the beginning of November 2023 amounted to 20.99 billion Turkmen manat ($6.01 billion), which is 14.5 percent more than in the same period of 2022 (18.32 billion Turkmen manat, or $5.24 billion).
Turkmenistan is experiencing ongoing expansion in its financial industry, characterized by the implementation of numerous innovations.
One notable development is the rising availability of mobile applications that enable users to make payments for a wide range of services and pr
oducts. Non-cash transactions are gaining popularity, and the utilization of bank terminals for payment purposes is also on the rise.
Source: TREND News Agency
Baku: Ethiopia became Africa’s third default in as many years on Tuesday after it failed to make a $33 million “coupon” payment on its only international government bond.
Africa’s second most populous country announced earlier this month that it intended to formally go into default, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a two-year civil war that ended in November 2022.
It had been supposed to make the payment on Dec. 11, but technically had up until Tuesday to provide the money due to a 14-day ‘grace period’ clause written into the $1 billion bond.
According to two sources familiar with the situation, bondholders had not been paid the coupon as of the end of Friday Dec. 22, the last international banking working day before the grace period expires.
Ethiopian government officials did not respond to requests for comment on Friday or over the weekend, but the widely-expected default will see it join two other African nations, Zambia and Ghana, in a full-scale “Com
mon Framework” restructuring.
The East African country first requested debt relief under the G20-led initiative in early 2021.
Progress was initially delayed by the civil war but, with its foreign exchange reserves depleted and inflation soaring, Ethiopia’s official sector government creditors, including China agreed to a debt service suspension deal in November.
On Dec. 8, the government said parallel negotiations it had been having with pension funds and other private sector creditors that hold its bond had broken down.
Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency