Banks and credit institutions gave 584.8 trillion rials ($1.79 billion) loans to knowledge-based companies from the beginning of fiscal year in March 21 to Sep 22, the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said.
The loans were given to 1,404 firms. The increase reflects the will of the banking sector to support the knowledge economy, the CBI website reported. The figure indicates 100.2% growth on last year.
Total outstanding loans to startups and knowledge-based companies was 889 trillion rials ($2.73 billion) up until Sep 22. Knowledge-based firms had a total of 7.39 trillion rials ($22.7 million) in bad loans by the said date. Stressed loans of such firms was in the region of 25 trillion rials ($76.9 million), the CBI said.
The CBI has pledged to increase financial support to the knowledge-based economy, saying new measures will be announced to help ease collateral such firms need to put up.
Bank Mellat accounted for the largest portion of loans to knowledge-based companies with 102.2 trillion rials ($314.4m), followed by Tejarat Bank 85 trillion rials ($261.5m) and ENBank 56.4 trillion rials ($173.5m).
The upsurge in funding the knowledge economy show the government’s resolve in boosting such firms, largely staffed by young people. The government has voiced support for tech firms and expressed willingness to increase financial support to help the tech ecosystem grow.
CBI governor Ali Salehabadi earlier said, “We are working in coordination with knowledge-based institutions such as the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology and Iran National Innovation Fund”.
Back in May, Bank Melli Iran (BMI) opened two special branches in Tehran to facilitate funding for these enterprises. The branches help improve the financial strength of knowledge-based companies, according to Mohammadreza Farzin, the BMI boss.
Lenders injected 670 trillion rials ($2.16b) into the knowledge-based economy in the fiscal year ending March 20.
According to data published by the Vice Presidential Office for Science and Technology published in mid-2021, almost 6,035 knowledge-based companies are active nationwide.
They have been expanding their footprint in the economy for several years. Experts say knowledge-based enterprises are making a decent contribution to economic growth by increasing added value.
A knowledge-based economy is a system of consumption and production based on intellectual capital, in which a significant part of the company’s value consists of intangible assets, mainly the value of its workers’ knowledge (intellectual capital).
The scope of a knowledge-based economy is not limited to the technology industry, it can be and is also used in other sectors like IT, nanotechnology, biotechnology and other high tech firms.
Iran’s knowledge economy largely depends on the banking industry for funds, but there are plans to help them access funding via the stock market.
