The banking sector lent a total of 4.17 quadrillion rials ($137 billion) during the fiscal year that ended on March 19 -- a growth of 22.2% compared to the previous year. A press statement from the Central Bank of Iran Monday shows that 63% of banks’ loans were given to businesses to boost their working capital, a 27.2% year-on-year increase. Services continue to top the list of borrowers and accounted for 38.29% of the total loans, i.e. 1.59 quadrillion ($52.7 billion) rials. Industries and mining sector also took out 1.21 quadrillion rials ($40.2 billion) worth of loans last year, 82.2% of which were paid for meeting the sector’s need for working capital.
