The National Development Fund of Iran has received the go-ahead to broaden its investment scope, the sovereign wealth fund’s board of directors announced.
In a meeting attended by President Ebrahim Raisi, the board approved the proposals put forward by Mehdi Ghazanfari, the managing director of NDFI.
According to a press release posted on its website, NDFI is henceforth allowed to invest in domestic and foreign financial markets.
“For the first time in its history, NDFI has been allowed to invest in various sectors, including money and financial markets in and outside the country to augment its return on investment,” Ghazanfari said.
Pointing to shortage of resources held by the fund, NDFI managers had earlier said that the sovereign fund should better engage more in investment than lending.
Outlining investment options, NDFI is also interested in investing in projects that helps bolster startups and knowledge-based companies.
In addition, the sovereign wealth fund also seeks to “concentrate on investment in infrastructure projects and sectors with high returns and low risks”.
NDFI was set up in 2011 as an independent agency to curb dependency on oil and save a percentage of oil and gas export revenues for the welfare of future generations.
The fund also lends to nongovernment public sector, private firms and cooperatives in need, when government revenues run low.
A total of $136 billion have been injected into the fund since its inception, with about half the figure deposited in the first three years of its inception.
Ghazanfari had earlier clarified that the sovereign wealth fund must not be tapped as a source of spending for the fiscal budget, for financing development projects enshrined in the budget and engaging in businesses that makes it compete with the private sector.
