The banking system should be at the service of manufactures and exports, Bahram Nezamolmolki, managing director of the Ministry of Energy’s department for export promotion said. He criticized Iranian lenders for putting profit before all else and their involvement in rent-seeking instead of helping production companies and exporters, IRNA reported.
He singled out the number of banks and their branches growing like wild mushroom across the country. “Given the long sanctions’ years, one may ask how the number of banks and their branches grew so rapidly?” He regretted that there was not enough supervision over the banking industry – a complaint made often by many respected economists and businesses unable to access credits and financial resources of banks reportedly tied to vested interests and saddled with billions in soured loans.
Nezamolmolki said the loans offered to manufactures are not sufficient and noted that the condition of exporters is not much better compared to manufacturers. He called for reforms to the banking sector in order to channel banking resources to exports. He claimed that the lethargic and dysfunctional lenders have done little to nothing to improve their performance.
“The Energy Ministry has drafted regulations in cooperation with the representatives of the private sector to help boost exports but the main responsibility lies with the ministries of industry and economy,” he said.
