UAE real estate market booms in H1, led by Abu Dhabi
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Azerbaijani banks' investments in securities fell to AZN7.95bn ($4.68bn) as of July 31, down 13.5% or AZN1.24bn from a year earlier, Banker.az reported on August 28, citing central bank data.
The contraction points to thinner demand for government paper as the finance ministry scales back bond auctions, squeezing a market that has been a mainstay of banks' investment portfolios and their non-lending income.
Banks' securities assets stood at AZN9.19bn a year earlier, on July 31, 2025. The foreign-currency portion of the portfolio also shrank over the period, to AZN3.63bn from AZN4.06bn, a fall of 10.6%.
Income from securities fell alongside the holdings. Profit from the segment reached AZN271.4mn by the end of July, down 16.8% or AZN54.9mn from AZN326.3mn in the same period of 2025.
One of the main reasons for the decline was a reduction in the finance ministry's government bond auctions compared with previous years.
As government bonds are one of the core components of banks' securities portfolios, the smaller volume of new issues and placements limits banks' scope to invest in the instruments.
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