Bad Checks Pile Up

The number of bad checks shot up in the month to Dec.20 reaching 893,000 or 31.1% higher compared with a month earlier.   
In value terms it was 233 trillion rials ($970.8 million) indicating 5.6% hike on a monthly basis, the Central Bank of Iran reported. Bounced checks accounted for 9.4% of the total number of checks and 12.5% of the value of checks drawn during the period.
The unprecedented increase, among other things, could be explained by the large-scale business closures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic that has ruined livelihoods and economies across continents.