TEHRAN – Iran’s Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade announced that in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2019-January 20, 2020), some 299.9 trillion rials (over $7.1 billion) worth of bank loans have been paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and semi-finished industrial projects with an over 60 percent physical progress.

Over 19,911 projects and production units registered requests for bank loans in the mentioned time span, IRNA reported on Sunday.

In late January, Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Governor Abdolnaser Hemmati announced that the banking system paid 6.26 quadrillion rials (about $149 billion) in loans to domestic economic sectors during the first ten months of the present Iranian year.

According to Hemmati, in the mentioned time span, over 280 trillion rials (nearly $6.6 billion) worth of bank loans were offered to small and medium-sized enterprises and 100 trillion rials (about $2.38 billion) was offered to create new sustainable job opportunities, IRIB reported.

In early May 2019, the official outlined CBI plans for neutralizing or relieving the impact of U.S. sanctions on the country’s economy and mentioned providing liquidity and working capital to maintain and boost domestic production as one of those plans.

CBI’s plans take two major approaches, one of which is to secure finance for production activities and also to provide the working capital needed for such activities.

EF/MA