US extends technical assistance program for Azeri banks

The governments of the United States and Azerbaijan formally signed a work-plan defining the mission of the Banking Supervision Project on Thursday, at the National Bank of Azerbaijan. It was signed by Chairman of the National Bank Elman Rustamov, U.S. Ambassador Reno Harnish and the USAID-funded project Banking Supervision Project Chief of Party Terry Stroud. The United States Agency for International Development has extended a program of technical assistance to the National Bank of Azerbaijan in pursuit of strengthening conditions for competitive and efficient commercial banking sector and improving the legal and accounting environment in local commercial banks. This program of technical assistance was initiated in late 2002, and has been instrumental in achieving the adoption of two new banking sector laws in 2004 and the development within the National Bank of the capacity to regulate the commercial-banking sector. The project has recently been extended through the middle of 2006.