$427m in Marriage Loans Paid in 3 Months, CBI Says

Banks and credit institutions paid marriage loans worth 98.27 trillion rials ($427 million) since the beginning of current fiscal year in March up until June 8.
Interest-free loans were taken out by 116,417 newlyweds, according to a press release by the Central Bank of Iran.
The CBI regularly announces data about marriage loans in response to criticism that banks refuse to lend to new couples claiming that they lack sufficient funds.
While underscoring the urgency to prioritize lending to new couples, the CBI admitted that the loans had slowed down a little in recent weeks as some applicants, who registered last year had withdrawn their requests and joined new applicants to be eligible for higher loan amounts as per the new rules.
“The waiting list was 81,728 by end of the last year [March 20] and has increased to 364,390 by June 8,” the CBI said, noting that processing the high number of requests takes time.
As per new rules, newlyweds are eligible for loans up to 1 billion rials ($4,300). New regulations stipulate at least 40% increase in the loans -- from the previous 500 million rials to 700 million rials per couple.
To encourage the youth to tie the knot earlier, the loans have been doubled to 1 billion rials per couple if the bride is below 23 years and the groom under 25.
Marriage loans are interest-free and should be repaid in seven years. Couples can apply for loans maximum up to two years after the pronouncement of their marriage.
Bank loans climbed to 430 trillion rials ($1.8b) in the last fiscal year (March 2020-21) up 65% compared to the year before.
Marriage loans have increased in recent years due to a variety of reasons, namely runaway inflation, economic problems of households, joblessness and decline in living standards that have discouraged most young people from starting a family.