The administration plans to raise the lending power of commercial banks by $20 billion dollars. Five billion dollars from Iran’s Oil Stabilization Fund will be used to increase the capital of commercial banks in the next fiscal year starting March 2015. “This will raise the lending power of these banks by $20 billion dollars,” according to Mohammad Bagher Nobakht, Vice President for Strategic Planning and Supervision. The Oil Stabilization Fund is designed for capital investment or budget support if oil prices - Iran’s main foreign exchange earner – continue to fall. The benchmark of Brent crude oil has fallen to $67 per barrel from June’s $115 a barrel amid global oversupply and low demand.
