TEHRAN - Director General of the Investment and Financing Office of Iran’s Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry said 25 trillion rials (about $595.2 million) of bonds have been issued through industry and mining sectors since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

Speaking in a seminar on new methods of financing on Monday, Nematollah Shahbazi said the ministry has four main strategies to follow in the current year.

“Realizing surge in production, completion of semi-finished projects, development of export and controlling import, as well as market management and regulation are four major areas of focus for the ministry in the current year,” he explained.

To realize the mentioned four goals, the ministry has defined seven axes in the form of 40 projects and programs, Nematzadeh said, adding that provision of financial resources and attracting investment for projects constitute one of these axes.

According to the official, in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19) the industry and mining sectors required 4.25 quadrillion rials (about $101.19 billion) of resources, of which 3.2 quadrillion rials (nearly $76.2 billion) was supplied by the banking system in the form of facilities.

He further noted that the mentioned sectors are expected to need 5.75 quadrillion rials (about $136.9 billion) of resources in the current Iranian calendar year, of which 4.15 quadrillion rials (about $98.8 billion) is expected to be supplied in the form of fixed or working capital.

“Even in this case, we are facing a 28 percent deficit and it is necessary to use new financing methods to compensate for this deficit,” Shahbazi stressed.

Joining the capital market is one of the good financing methods for companies, which in addition to funding their projects, will also strengthen the financial basis of the companies, he said.

He also emphasized that the share of industry and mining sectors in the total banking facilities should be increased, adding: "Of course, the downward trend of allocations to these sectors was stopped last year and the share of these sectors from the total bank facilities has reached 32 percent."

EF/MA