Banks lent 342 trillion rials ($2.55 billion) during the first month of the current fiscal (March 21-April 20).
The amount indicates 32.9% growth compared to the corresponding period in the last fiscal, the official website of the Central Bank of Iran reported on Saturday.
It said lenders, including state and private banks as well as credit institutions, gave 227.2 trillion rials ($1.69 billion) to help raise working capital of manufactures and trading companies, accounting for 66.4% of the total loans.
Compared to the same month a year ago, the volume of loans for working capital this year increased by 51.4 trillion rials ($383 million) or 29.3%.
Lending to raise the working capital of mines and industries stood at 87.4 trillion rials ($652.2 million).
The CBI said the big share of working capital loans was due largely to the regulator’s concerns about the survival of manufactures struggling in the difficult economic conditions coupled with the tanking of the rial, higher raw material costs and the mounting pressures of the new US sanctions.
In terms of other loan destinations, 25.1 trillion rials ($187.5 million) was given for setting up new businesses, 18.6 trillion rials ($138.8 million) for development of business units, 19.8 trillion rials ($148.4 million) for repairs and renovations, 13.3 trillion rials ($99.5 million) for purchasing goods and 8.01 trillion rials ($59.8 million) in home loans.
According to the report, the services sector had the lion’s share both in terms of applicants and the amounts paid.
More than 110,000 applicants in this sector alone received 153 trillion rials. The next major recipient was the industrial and mining sector followed by the commercial sector, respectively receiving 105 trillion rials and 48.3 trillion rials ($7.9 billion). Agriculture and housing had the smallest share.
Loans to the agro sector reached 9.4 trillion paid to more than 20,000 applicants. Housing loans amounted to 25 trillion rials.
The CBI noted that despite rising volume of loans, all necessary measures should be taken to control its inflationary impact born out of rising demand for goods and the ballooning liquidity that has long been a major concern of producers, economists and stakeholders.
