The government will give its shares in five major companies to the people who were unable to receive the so-called Justice Shares when they were first distributed in 2007.
The Iran Privatization Organization is tasked to transfer the remaining shares of the government in Bank Saderat, Bank Mellat, Tejarat Bank, Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line and Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Group to Iranians who did not receive the shares in the past and are under the umbrella of the two main charities -- the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation and State Welfare Organization of Iran, ISNA reported.
Each eligible individual is to receive 100 million rials worth of shares with 50% discount and pay in ten-year installments.
As per the plan, 1.7% of government shares in Bank Saderat, 4.1% in Bank Mellat, 3.1% in Bank Tejarat, 3% in IRISL and 6.7% in PGPIC will be allotted under the new initiative.
Justice Shares are shares of government-owned companies given free to the six lowest income deciles 15 years ago but were not allowed to be traded in the stock market until May 2020.
More than 49 million Iranians have the shares and estimations suggest that the portfolio of shareholders has grown almost ten times.
There are differing views about the government’s ability to again offer shares of state companies. Officials in the administration of former president Hassan Rouhani opposed such moves on the premise that the government was saddled with ballooning deficits and cannot afford such largesse.
However, lawmakers and the Majlis Research Center, the parliamentary think tank, then said that the government has large stakes in major companies and should share the pie with low-income households in the form of Justice Shares.
Justice Share portfolios includes 49 state-owned companies in the auto, metal, mining, and agriculture, petrochemical and banking sectors and 35 are listed with the stock market. Another 14 are planning IPOs. Shareholders can now sell 60% of their portfolio in the bourse.
In April 2020, the Leader of Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei approved a government request calling for the transfer of ownership of shares to the people and lift restrictions on selling Justice Shares.
