Lawmakers have cast doubt on the effectiveness of the long-awaited banking reform bill that the government intends to submit to the legislature by the end of the month, Sarmad news website reported on Tuesday.
The content of the government bill that seeks to amend usury-free law does not bring meaningful change to the nature of banking operations, Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghadam, a lawmaker and a member of the special parliamentary panel on banking reform said.
“The Majlis should add some provisions and then debate it in an open session,” he said without elaboration.
In light of the frequent delays in the official submission of the bill to the Parliament, he warned that the lawmakers will not wait forever for the government to do what it is supposed to do.
“We have taken into account the common provisions in the government bill and lawmakers’ proposals and tried to incorporate both viewpoints of the government and the Central Bank of Iran and at the same time address concerns over the lack of significant change in banking operations as reflected in the government bill.”
Mesbahi described the government bill as comprehensive, “stronger and more efficient” compared with the Parliament’s proposal and justified the difference by saying that the “lawmakers only seek to ensure compliance of banking operations with the Sharia.”
“That is why the two complement each other.”
Despite several reminders sent to the economy minister and the CBI chief to present the final reform bill, Parliament has yet to receive the bills. The extended delays eventually prompted the Parliament to proceed independently by setting up a technical, albeit unofficial, working group three months ago to study the various aspects of the much-needed reforms in the banking system and come up with a proposal.
