The Central Headquarters for the Resistance Economy has sent a list of struggling small and medium-sized enterprises eligible for cheap loans to banks. The banking sector will review the applications within a month, managing director of Iran's Small Industries and Industrial Parks Organization said.
“SMEs are being compartmentalized into groups of inactive industries, those operating with less than 50% capacity, those using 50%-70% of their potential, and unfinished industrial projects,” IRNA quoted Ali Yazdani as saying.
Earlier this month, the headquarters required the banking sector to finance 7,500 enterprises currently in need of finance. “An estimated 160 trillion rials ($5.24 billion) is expected to be given to the SMEs.”
Some 87,917 industrial units have received their operation licenses as of May 20 according to the official "of which 80,081 are considered small-size industries.”
Companies are expected to either finalize construction projects or increase their production capacity after they receive the loans.
About 42% of these businesses are located in industrial parks. Yazdani said that an incentive package has been prepared for semi-finished industrial projects. The package aims to promote industries by reducing their unpaid debts to banks.
“The package is now operational and industries can refer to industrial parks and apply for the facilities,” he said.
The Central Bank of Iran has ordered banks and credit institutions to allocate a minimum 10% of their loans to the SMEs in a move to help create jobs and lift the beleaguered production sector.
