Since its independence from Soviet rule in 1991, Baku’s relations with Tehran have never been especially warm – its close ethnic and political ties with Turkey, Iran’s most important rival, almost certainly lie behind that.

Sector asset-quality metrics started improving in the second quarter of 2021 on the back of recovering business activity and appreciation of the Georgian lari.

According to the government privatisation programme, SQB, also known as Uzpromstorybank, is to be handed over to private hands by 2023.

In September alone, the non-oil exports rose by 75.2 percent year-on-year to $224.7 million, while the country's total export amounted to $1.7 billion.

Gross domestic product (GDP) grew 3.6 percent in January-August this year from a year earlier mainly backed by the growth in the non-oil sector.