Assets owned by banks reached 84,606.4 trillion rials ($338 billion) by the end of the previous quarter on June 21, 50.3% higher y/y.
Foreign assets grew 60% y/y from 12,586.4 trillion rials ($50.3b) in June 2020 to 20,134 trillion rials ($80b) by June 2021, according to data released by the Central Bank of Iran.
Non-government sectors owed 25,660.4 trillion rials ($102.6b) to banks by the end of previous quarter -- an annual rise of 51.1%.
Government and state-owned companies held 6,475.6 trillion rials ($25.9b) in debt to banks, up 45% compared to the corresponding period last year.
Commercial banks’ total assets stood at 12,281.5 trillion rials ($49b) by the end of the previous quarter, 60.8% higher on figures reported in June 2020.
Foreign assets owned by commercial banks were worth 1,971.5 trillion rials ($7.8b), recording a whopping 151% increase compared to the year earlier.
Non-government sector liabilities to commercial banks were in the range of 3,884 trillion rials ($15.5b) registering a 36% growth y/y.
Five state-owned specialized banks held assets worth 11,973 trillion rials ($48b) by June 21, rising 40.3% compared to the same period a year earlier. Their foreign assets amounted to 3,321.5 trillion rials ($13.2b), up 60.6% compared to the year ago.
CBI Assets
Total CBI assets reached 10,275.9 trillion rials ($41b) in Q1, rising from 8,423.7 trillion rials ($33.6b) in the first quarter of last year, registering 22% y/y growth.
According to CBI data, foreign assets accounted for about 6,602.9 trillion rials ($26.4b) of the bank’s total assets in June -- 19.9% higher compared to the same month the previous year.
Increase in banks’ foreign assets is seen as the main driver of expansion of money supply in recent months. Majority of the assets owned by the CBI and banks are locked overseas and are not accessible due to the US sanctions.
Broad money supply reached 37,054 trillion rials ($148 billion) at the end Q1, rising 6.6% in three months and 39.4% in 12 months to June 21.
Total debt of the government and its companies to the CBI exceeded 2,016.9 trillion rials ($8b), which is 53.5% higher y/y.
In a report published earlier in the week, the CBI said its lending to the government in the form of discretionary spending and decline in government deposits with the CBI were the main reasons behind the high government debt to the central bank.
It said government and state-run companies’ deposits with the CBI declined 6.4% in the three months to June 21 to reach 1,608.7 trillion rials ($6.4b).
Banknotes and coins by June 21 were worth 12.6 trillion rials ($50 million) -- 18.2% lower compared to the year earlier, the CBI said.
Debt of banks to CBI accounted for 1,134.4 trillion rials ($4.5b) of CBI assets in 12 months to June 21. The figure was almost unchanged compared to the previous quarters and registered a meager 0.1% growth. Banks’ debt to the CBI declined 3.2% in the course of three months since the beginning of the fiscal year in March.
Banks and credit institutions had 4,200.9 trillion rials ($16.8b) in deposits with the CBI by the end of the last fiscal year, posting 10.8% growth on an annualized basis.
