TEHRAN - Deputy minister of economic affairs and finance of Iran says the country’s foreign debts are currently very insignificant and nearly zeroed, Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday.

“Currently, the volume of Iran's foreign debt is extremely small and tends to zero due to the existing restrictions,” Mohammad-Ali Dehqan Dehnavi said.

The official noted that using foreign debts could be a positive opportunity, meaning that the government can borrow from abroad and invest inside the country.

According to Dehnavi most of the government’s debts are internal. Having external debts is important globally, but it is not currently important for Iran since the country has almost no foreign debts.

External debt is the portion of a country's debt that is borrowed from foreign lenders including commercial banks, governments or international financial institutions. These loans, including interest, must usually be paid in the currency in which the loan was made.

Foreign debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the ratio between the debt a country owes to non-resident creditors and its nominal GDP.

Iran’s external debt has been falling in recent years following a downward trend.

EF/MA