CBI Underscores Support for Production

The governor of the Central Bank of Iran emphasized the importance of supporting production, referring to the entity he leads and the banking system as the main bodies backing the sector.

“With the help of the parliament, we must move toward a path in which the government can launch a calculated support for production and bank interest rates for manufacturers will be adjusted in accordance with their units,” Valiollah Seif was also quoted as saying by ISNA.

The official, who was speaking in a meeting of bankers in Qazvin Province, added that non-performing loans and government arrears are the main stagnant financial assets.

“All the assets belonging to the banks, a portion of which are foreclosed industrial and productions units, must be activated and transformed into real resources,” he said.

“If any units are able to stay afloat and their continued activity is economically viable, it must be sold and directed toward production so that both the bank arrears will be repaid and the stagnancy of resources would end.”

CBI is to focus on freeing properties that have been locked and are unusable. It will do so with the assistance of provinces “and we will begin this from Qazvin”, he added.

According to Seif, the central bank has had an agreement with the administration of President Hassan Rouhani not to tap the banking sector to make up for the budget deficits.

Emphasizing that the CBI wants the Iranian banking system to be fully in the service of production sector, Seif said that four decades of unscrupulous use of banking resources has presented it with a challenge.

“The banking system must be strengthened to be able to assist with job creation,” he said.