Banks Saddled With Subsidized Lending

Since the beginning of the calendar year in late March banks and credit institutions gave 990 trillion rials ($3.12 billion) loans to help encourage youth marriage and childbirth and support citizens wanting to rent a home.  
Mehdi Sahabi, the official in charge of the CBI’s Credit Department, said banks accepted 400,000 applications for childbirth loans worth 162 trillion rials ($511.2 million) since the beginning of current fiscal year (March 21), newswires said. 
Lenders were obliged in mid-April to lend to young parents to encourage childbirth.  The money is given to couples who had a child in the previous fiscal year (March 2021-22) and after.