Iran’s foreign debt was $7.16 billion by the end of the fifth calendar month (August 22), the central bank said Saturday. This was almost 17.4% lower from the beginning of the year in March 2022.
Medium and long-term debt was $5.23 billion or nearly 75% of the total. Short-term debt was in the range of $1.92 billion, the Central Bank of Iran said.
Short-term debt includes all debt with original maturity of one year or less plus the interest on long-term debt.
Thanks to the scale and scope of economic and financial hurdles, namely the US economic blockade, Iran’s external debts are far lower compared to most developing nations.
The country was unable to attract foreign investment because of the tough sanctions, cumbersome laws and economic instability, among other things.
External debt averaged $15.54 billion from 1993 until 2020, reaching an all-time high of $28.64 billion in 2007 and a record low of $5.1 billion in 2014, according to Trading Economics, which sources financial and economic data from countries across the world.
Most of the borrowing in the past three years was related to fighting the coronavirus pandemic. Tehran received $50 million from the World Bank to help the health sector cope with the fatal disease.
The OPEC Fund for International Development approved $500,000 in emergency grant to help buy equipment to fight the plague.
Iran solicited multilateral development banks for funds, in which it is a member, namely the Islamic Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank.
