TEHRAN – Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ehsan Khandouzi said the country’s stock market has provided 6.0 quadrillion rials (about $12 billion) of funding for various economic sectors since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21, 2023).

According to Khandouzi, considering the current trend the figure is expected to reach 7.5 quadrillion rials (about $15 billion) by the end of the year (late March 2024), IRNA reported.

Back in November 2023, Head of Iran’s Securities and Exchange Organization (SEO) Majid Eshghi said 30 percent of financing in the country’s economic sectors was done through the capital market in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 20).

Speaking at an Exchange, Banking and Insurance Conference, Eshghi said: “We believe that the role of the capital market in the economy can be made much stronger than what currently is.”

“Today, the country's economy needs creativity and innovation and the economy cannot be managed with the policies of the past decade,” he noted.

According to the official, banks are less willing to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), so the stock market can replace them in this regard.

“Today, we need to revive people's trust in the government, without this trust, we will not have a balanced development. People should know that the stock market is a safe and transparent platform for investment,” Eshghi stressed.

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